On the Hands of an Imperialist
On the Hands of an Imperialist
By: Cherry V. Tubes
After the September 11 attacks, the
United States of America
started its so-called “war against terror,” which in turn created a pretext for governments like the
Philippines
, to extend and justify the use of national security laws and measures to suppress movements for democracy and human rights. Our country has indeed become the partner of the
US
in its modern imperialism.
According to Dr. Roland Simbulan on his article on “The Nature of Modern Imperialism,” state terror has long been used in the
Third World
to fight what governments have unilaterally declared as “terror.” Wars and counter-insurgency have long been pursed as a strategy against “terrorism” in the
Third World
and the war against “terrorism” has always been made as an excuse by states to promote militarists and authoritarian dictatorships supporting Western expansionist, strategic and economic objectives. 1
Unfortunately, this is exactly what the
US
is doing in the
Philippines
. It not only resorts to the control of its transnational capital and military forces, but also engaged in defining its enemy as all those who opposed to or are critical of its imperial globalization.
When and how did it all began?
As everyone of us know, the
Philippines
had been colonized by the
US
from 1900-1940. During that colonization, it had inculcated great influence in the minds of every Filipino. That is the reason why since the Marcos regime until the present administration, our country has been dependent to its imperialist – the
US
.
More than that, during the American colonization, it had enforced in the
Philippines
some national security laws that suppress the democratic aspirations of the people. Among those laws are the Brigandage Act and Sedition Law that targeted Filipino freedom fighters and those advocating independence.2
If we will come to think of it, those colonial legislations paved the way for the “intensified insurgencies” nowadays, resulting in various massacres, extra-judicial killings, disappearances, detention without trial and sham trials of a number of nationalists and leftist organizations of the poor, such as peasant movements and trade unions.
The so-called “partners in terror”
In one of Bayan Movement’s article, it mentioned that the
United States
government has not named the
Philippines
as its “second front” in its global war on terror for nothing. The
US
considers the
Philippines
important for its economic, military, and geo-political interests in Asia.3 True indeed that we are being used by the
US
to achieve its goal of being a global imperialist.
“The
United States
and the
Philippines
are close partners in the international war on terrorism,” said
America
’s top intelligence official, John Negroponte in his visit to the
Philippines
in December 2005.
With this statement, he declared the country as one of the priority targets of the
Counter
Terrorism
Center
. Because of this, it has been evident that for the past years of President Arroyo’s administration, efforts to crush revolutionary and leftist organizations labeled by the
US
as “terrorists groups” have been made.
There have been an alarming number of human rights victims because of this “war against terror.”
In line with the “partnership,” the total
US
military assistance to the
Philippines
rose from US$38 million in 2001 to US$114 million in 2003. This makes the
Philippines
the fourth largest recipient of
US
foreign military assistance.4
It’s so frustrating that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remains to be a
US
’s substitute army. For many decades now, we can not deny the fact that it has been dependent to the
US
for military aid and training.
A continuing terror
Part of the
US
imperialism in the
Philippines
is the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). This agreement allows the unrestricted entry of US troops in the guise of war exercises.
In effect, the
US
is having covert operations in the
Philippines
. It is highly possible that the American forces are involved in the actual intelligence, psywar and actual operations of the AFP, which is against the Philippine Constitution.
The government’s approval to the
US
’s intervention to our military operations only shows that the present administration doesn’t have enough confidence in the capability of the AFP.
Not only that, the said agreement grants extraterritorial rights to the Americans over the
Philippines
. This means that the VFA cunningly obliges us to abdicate our rights as a sovereign nation with respect to American soldiers and civilians who come here in connection with some undefined military activities.
What would happen now to our constitutional rights?
The real war
In responding to all the threats in national security, the wellbeing of the ordinary people is often set aside and neglected. The government is continuously focusing on the
US
’s military aid without realizing its “real” objectives on its “war against terrorism.” There is no mention of the “terrorism of poverty,” which in fact kills more people in any war.
Like what the Secretary General of the Philippine
Alliance
of Human Rights Advocates,
Santos
A. Lamban, said in a press release, “we, as a sovereign nation must not let foreign powers meddle in our national affairs. We must not let the American’s freely to export their ‘war against terrorism’ in our country.”5 Let us not be a
US
imperial forever.
Resources:
1 The Nature of Modern Imperialism by Dr. Roland Simbulan, www.forum.up.edu.ph
2 The Nature of Modern Imperialism by Dr. Roland Simbulan, www.forum.up.edu.ph
3 www.bayan.ph
4 www.bayan.ph
5 On the Participation of US troops in Military Operations against the ASG, Press Statement, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA)
