Philippines warned ‘US satellite-like’ status puts it under Putin’s nuclear cross hairs

Putin called for the resumption of missile production during a televised address in which he also raised the possibility of deploying missiles outside Russia, noting that the US had sent missile systems to other countries.

“Today, it is known that the United States not only produces these missile systems but has already brought them to Europe for exercises, to Denmark. Quite recently, it was announced that they are in the Philippines,” the Russian leader said during a televised address on Friday.

The Philippine military has not confirmed whether the Typhon remains deployed in the country or for how long.

Marcos Jnr has embraced Washington in his foreign policy, giving the US access to four more Philippine military sites under the Enhanced Defence Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), a pact that allows for large-scale joint military exercises, regular troop rotations and the pre-positioning of associated defence material, equipment and supplies.

Former lawmaker Carlos Isagani Zarate of the party list Bayan Muna said the government’s “US satellite-like foreign policy” under Marcos Jnr “has contributed to bringing the world to the brink of a renewed nuclear arms race.”

The president’s security alliance with the US could make the Philippines a potential target for nuclear attacks from countries like Russia, Zarate argued.

“We demand that the Marcos … administration abide by the constitutional edicts of pursuing an independent foreign policy and making the Philippines free of nuclear arms and foreign troops,” he said in a statement.

“We were not fighting with China before. We were free to fish in and out of the area, nobody was bugging us and there was no issue of territory. We were not molested, we were there to fish, to make a living. It