Press Release by Stop the War Coalition Philippines on the Global Days of Action Against Military Spending (GDAMS)
Global military expenditure soared to an unprecedented $2.887 trillion in 2025, according to today’s Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Global Military Spending Report 2025. This staggering sum is funneled into weapons and warfare while the world grapples with pervasive hunger, escalating climate crises, and deepening inequality. The United States alone contributed a colossal $954 billion, accounting for a third of this global outlay. Concurrently, nations such as China, Germany, Ukraine, and Spain significantly augmented their defense budgets, fueling an alarming arms race across both Asia and Europe.
This war economy is not a distant concept; its impact resonates profoundly at home. In the Philippines, diesel prices remain stubbornly high at ₱98–₱112 per liter, rice hovers at ₱60–₱70 per kilo, and inflation registered 4.1% in March 2026. Yet, instead of substantive relief beyond temporary “ayuda” or one-time aid, the Philippine government maintains a “business-as-usual” approach, hosting Balikatan 2026—the largest war games in our history. Furthermore, the Marcos Jr. government actively facilitates U.S. military projects, including an ammunition hub in Subic (Zambales), a fuel depot in Mindanao, and the controversial Pax Silica enclave in Tarlac.
Pax Silica, deceptively branded as “development,” is, in truth, a 4,000-acre zone governed under U.S. law, granting diplomatic immunity for up to 99 years. This arrangement inextricably links our economy to the U.S. war supply chain, exploiting our land and mineral resources for foreign conflicts.
Simultaneously, the West Asia conflict, ignited by U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, has already led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, driven oil prices above $100 per barrel, and unleashed global economic shockwaves. Closer to home, tensions escalate in the West Philippine Sea, where U.S. and Chinese warships engage in a dangerous standoff, pulling the Philippines deeper into a perilous great-power rivalry.
The Stop the War Coalition Philippines demands:
- Significant cuts to military budgets, with funds redirected to vital sectors such as healthcare, education, food security, and climate resilience initiatives.
- Immediate suspension of fuel excise taxes and the outright repeal of the oil deregulation law.
- A strategic pivot towards energy self-sufficiency and sovereignty through the development of national reserves, particularly in renewable energy.
- Resolute rejection of Pax Silica and all foreign enclaves that undermine national control.
- Abrogation of all unequal military agreements and the dismantling of foreign bases on Philippine soil.
- Unwavering defense of sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea and the steadfast upholding of the South China Sea as a global commons.
Every peso and dollar squandered on war is a direct theft from the people’s fundamental right to survival. Pax Silica and Balikatan vividly illustrate the Philippines’ entanglement in a war economy, while the conflict in West Asia undeniably proves that foreign wars inflict direct suffering upon our populace. We demand peace, justice, and sovereignty—not perpetual militarization.