“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” — George Orwell
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There recent attempt by American military personnel assigned at the EDCA site in Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City to “inspect” the private compound of steel manufacturer San Jia Company in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental created a furor that elicited severe criticisms from many Filipinos that even prodded the United States embassy to issue an official explanation.
Trying to reconstruct an unbiased and factual report on what really happened, it is good that the Tagoloan municipal police station had it written in the police blotter.
The blotter recorded that security guard Jermie Espartero, 43, who works at the San Jia Company located at Zone I, Nabulod Baluarte, Tagoloan reported to police duty officer PSSg Cuyugan that at 10:12 AM on August 19, a group of American soldiers accompanied by personnel of PHIVIDEC, attempted to enter the premises of San Jia Company, saying that they will conduct an inspection of the site. They came in at least six official-looking white vans.
Since the visitors did not have any written permission to enter, the Philippine Army personnel who were on duty in the company premises refused to allow the foreigners and their companions inside. The group failed to present any permit or authorization to conduct the intended inspection. Espartero requested that the foregoing incident be placed on record for documentation and future reference. The extract from the police blotter was noted by Police Major Enrique Dungog, chief of police.
US embassy statement
The American embassy in Manila clarified that a joint team of US and Philippine soldiers visited the Philippine Sanjia Steel Corp. facility purely for routine site planning regarding the upcoming 2027 Balikatan military exercises.
It said that the inspection was part of the joint US-Philippine planning to assess the site’s potential use for bilateral military exercises, coordinated alongside the PHIVIDEC Industrial Authority.
This claim, however, was effectively debunked by the complaint filed and recorded in Tagoloan police.
The visit by US military personnel took on a dubious character because last May, the same business establishment was raided by the Presidential Anti-Crime Commision, the National Bureau of Investigation, police and military personnel on orders of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.
The Chinese embassy protested the raid as just harassment of Chinese workers, and with good reason, because the workers were later found to have complete work papers and the firm did not violate any business or environmental regulations.
Sanjia Steel Plant was targeted by Gibo in the anomalous raid on some 100 Chinese and Filipino workers who were accused without basis of various labor and immigration violations. The Chinese were arrested and detained in Manila under abysmal circumstances, but were later released because it was established that they did not commit any crime or violation. And neither did the steel plant.
This incident is alarming because while the Phividec is an industrial estate and is not an official Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement or EDCA site, the Department of National Defense under Secretary Gibo Teodoro is reportedly planning to host a naval facility or logistics support area within the Phividec complex. This support facility will complement the nearby EDCA location at Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro City. The two facilities, which ultimately will be run by the United States military although the Philippine government will deny it, are to serve American interests in the Indo-Pacific.
Even if the Phividec base is still in the planning stage, the American soldiers have the temerity to conduct the inspection of a private steel plant inside the complex, probably to draw the plans for the Philippine Navy’s facility. If it is our naval bases that will be built, why the presence of the Americans? And why are they operating in our own soil without even the authorization of the private owners?
This episode just showed the proclivity of Americans to treat the Philippines and Filipinos as if we are still under the colonial era.
Economic D-Day
The latest evidence of this American misbehavior was displayed by their president, Donald Trump.
This was when he declared that all countries doing business with Iran would be punished with secondary sanctions. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent provided the details later, and threatened all countries to comply. He called it Operation Economic Outcast to isolate Iran, while Trump called it Economic D-Day.
The program threatens several sanctions against any nation or entity continuing to trade with Iran, including exclusion from the US dollar system.
The Philippines is one of these countries, although anybody living on this planet knows that China is the target. We are not exempted despite the EDCA sites and the Mutual Defense Treaty, and the planned Pax Silica which are all advantageous to the US.
Sixty-six million dollars might not be much—that was the amount of goods the Philippines exported to Iran in 2024, up from $38 million the year before—but this total will still drag downward the already concerning Balance of Payments the country reported last week. Our imports from Iran were under $190,000, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Note that our BoP deficit in July was the lowest in eight months.
Will President Bongbong Marcos comply with the Trump-Bessent ultimatum?
