Philippine activists on Saturday picketed the US embassy and burned a cardboard American flag and mock stealth bomber, vowing to launch a campaign opposing a plan to allow more US troops in the country.

The leftist New Nationalist Alliance, Bayan, said in a statement at the rally that if the Philippines allows more US troops to enter the country, the entire archipelago will be transformed into one military outpost for US hegemonistic interests.

Philippines officials have welcomed plans for a greater presence from the military of its former colonial ruler, seeing it as a counterbalance to recent Chinese aggressiveness in the South China Sea.

China and the Philippines have territorial disputes over the South China Sea and Manila has accused Beijing of using intimidation to press its claims. US and Philippines officials say they are not interested in new US bases but merely in more joint exercises and more US troops rotating through the country.