Philippines people's movement: 'Junk U.S. military
plan'
By Sharon Eolis
In September the Philippines anti-imperialist movement BAYAN
called on all progressive forces to oppose the proposed
Visiting Force Agreement with the United States.
If approved, the VFA would give the Pentagon unrestricted
access to 22 ports throughout the Philippines for U.S. troops,
warships and nuclear submarines. The treaty violates the
Philippines constitution, which bars the entry of nuclear
weapons.
"Decades of militant opposition of the Filipino people to
the Military Bases Treaty caused the closing of the powerful
U.S. Clark Air and Subic Naval bases on Sept. 16, 1991," says
BAYAN's statement. "The VFA is one of several attempts by the
U.S. and its collaborators in the Philippine government to get
around the resounding rejection" of U.S. military operations
there.
The Pentagon faces growing opposition to its military bases
throughout Asia and the Pacific.
Philippines President Joseph Estrada is pushing for Senate
approval of the agreement. According to BAYAN, the plan is
being imposed in secret because it is in direct opposition to
the Filipino people's interests.
BAYAN says the VFA would make the Philippines more dependent
on the U.S. ruling class and a party to U.S. wars of aggression
and interventions in the Pacific. In addition, the "war
exercises" of the U.S. military with the Philippines armed
forces will damage life, property and the environment.
U.S. military installations also bring increased
prostitution of women and children and drug trafficking.
The destruction visited on the island of Vieques, Puerto
Rico, by U.S. military bases there is living proof of the
Pentagon's disregard for people's lives.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the U.S. occupation
and colonization of the Philippines. Filipino popular movements
have fought heroically for self-determination from U.S. and
Japanese imperialism.
The Junk VFA Movement initiated the first nationwide
protests against the agreement and the so-called
U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty on Sept. 15. More
actions are planned. BAYAN calls on the peace and
anti-imperialist movements everywhere to join the mobilization
and demand a moratorium on U.S. attempts to re-invade the
Philippines.
The growing opposition to the Visiting Force Agreement once
again shows the Filipino people's determination to continue the
struggle against U.S. imperialism.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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