KARAPATAN: PH Becoming US Missile Launch Pad
KARAPATAN Public Information
PRESS RELEASE
6 May 2026
Reference: Cristina Palabay, KARAPATAN secretary general, 09173162831
KARAPATAN Public Information Desk, 09189790580
KARAPATAN: PH Becoming US Missile Launch Pad
KARAPATAN condemned the firing of a Tomahawk missile from the Tacloban City Airport towards a target in Laur, Nueva Ecija, an area 530 kilometers away.
Said KARAPATAN secretary general Cristina Palabay, the missile launch from a civilian facility in Leyte towards a civilian community in Nueva Ecija underscores the fact that the entire country now virtually functions as a US military base. “The US military no longer just operates from the EDCA sites. It now has the whole Philippines at its disposal.”
“The implications are grave, to say the least,” added Palabay. “The use of Tomahawk missiles from Philippine soil is sure to escalate tensions with China and provoke intensified conflicts in the ongoing power struggle for supremacy in the Asia-Pacific.”
Launched from the Philippines, Tomahawk missiles, which have a range of 1,000 to 1,200 kilometers, can reach targets in the South China Sea, southern China and even parts of Russia.
“By allowing such a launching,” said Palabay, “the Marcos Jr. regime is projecting the Philippines as a launching pad of missile strikes against China (and potentially, Russia) and gambling with the lives, safety and security of the Filipino people.”
The Tomahawk, a long-range missile deployed in sea-based land attacks, was last used by the US in Operation Epic Fury, its war of aggression against Iran. It was a Tomahawk missile that struck an elementary school in Minab, Iran on February 28, 2026, the first day of the US attack, killing 155 civilians, including 73 boys, 47 girls, 26 teachers, seven parents, a school bus driver and a pharmacy technician in a clinic close to the school.
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publi...@karapatan.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Sts., Central District
KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties. It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. It was established in 1995.