PRESS RELEASE
24 April 2009

Anzac Day challenge to New Zealand, Australia: Stop supporting US-led military actions in Philippines, Iraq and elsewhere,

“As New Zealanders and Australians remember the thousands of lives lost to wars on Anzac day, we ask the New Zealand and Australian governments to stop sending troops to Iraq, Afghanistan, Philippines and elsewhere in support of US-led wars of aggression and intervention. New Zealand and Australia can send a strong message of peace on Anzac day by declaring withdrawal of all forms of support to US-led wars and intervention that continue to claim millions of civilian lives.”

This was the Anzac day challenge of Auckland-Philippines Solidarity (APS) in the wake of news that unspecified numbers of foreign military personnel from 12 countries including New Zealand and Australia will stay in the Philippines in early May 2009 for US-led multinational military exercises in the guise of “disaster relief training exercises.” Various groups in the Philippines have protested the entry of US and other foreign troops in the Philippines, raising legal issues particularly the charter’s restriction on the presence of foreign troops and facilities in the country.

“We believe that our Anzac day memorials can be more significant if our political leaders will pledge to stop any more involvement in war crimes such as the invasion of Iraq and all forms of US-led military intervention such as in the Philippines. It’s clear to us that the upcoming ‘disaster relief training exercise’ in the Philippines is consistent with US military doctrines on the conduct of ‘civic operations’ mainly to secure US economic and geo-political interests in the Asia-Pacific,” Mr. Luke Coxon, APS Spokesperson stated.

The US and the Philippines will co-sponsor the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Voluntary Demonstration of Response (VDR) to be held in Central
Luzon on May 4-8. According to the ASEAN Secretariat, the activity is a “civilian-led, military supported” disaster relief training exercise with 12 countries “[providing] assets, personnel, and capabilities”:

US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, European Union and the Philippines.

APS, a group of New Zealanders advocating human rights and peace in the Philippines, supports the Filipino people’s call to abrogate the US-RP Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) that allows virtually permanent presence of US troops through the regular US-RP military exercises in the Philippines.

*Anzac Day is commemorated by Australia and New Zealand on 25th of April every year to honour members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) who fought together at Gallipoli in Turkey during World War I and other military actions in subsequent years.

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