PHILIPPINES
Real U.S. target is mass movement
By Lydia Bayoneta
Excerpts from a talk at the Sept. 21-22 Workers World
Party Conference.
A decade ago, the Filipino people forced the United States
to remove its two military bases--the largest bases outside
North America--from the Philippines. Earlier, the Philippine
constitution had been amended to exclude any foreign troops
from operating on Filipino soil. Both these developments were
historic steps in the struggle against imperialism and for
national self-determination. Both validate the view that
progressive laws must first be won in the streets by
struggle.
Today, the Philippine government under the regime of Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo is violating Filipino sovereignty and laws by
allowing U.S. combat troops to return to Philippine soil.
Under the pretext of the "global war on terrorism," the U.S.
State Department has added the Communist Party of the
Philippines (CCP) and the New People's Army (NPA) to its
designated list of terrorist organizations. The Arroyo regime
has started a systematic campaign of harassment of trade unions
and progressive organizations.
The Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), one of the biggest union
federations in the Philippines, has reported that the
government has threatened to renew criminal charges that were
filed against labor leaders during past strikes and labor
disputes and were presumably dropped when the strikes were
settled.
Recently, the United States and the Philippines agreed to a
coordinated joint military policy. This shows that the new U.S.
presence in the Philippines is not about "global terrorism" or
the Abu-Sayyef organization.
The real objectives of U.S. imperialism are to crush the
struggle for national liberation in the Philippines and
elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and to once again use the
Philippines as a launching pad for operations against Vietnam
and the Democratic PeopleRepublic of Korea. Washington also
wants to encircle the People's Republic of China with hostile
bases.
Since 1952, the bases have remained important to the U.S.
forces stationed in Korea and even beyond. In a June 1982
congressional hearing, Adm. Robert Long testified that the
bases have "the ability to deploy and support U.S. forces
rapidly anywhere in the Western Pacific. ... [They have] air
and naval capability to meet contingencies outside the Western
Pacific, such as in the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, East African
waters and the Middle East."
President George W. Bush has listed the DPRK as part of his
"axis of evil." It is easy to see that the label "evil" or
"terrorist" is applied to any nation or group that resists
complete domination by the United States.
Recently, the DPRK reached a broad agreement with Japan to
begin the normalization of relations. Although this agreement
contains concessions from the DPRK, it is not a small victory
for them. The brutal Japanese colonization, the 40,000 U.S.
troops stationed in South Korea, and the imposition of economic
sanctions for the past 40 years have been severe obstacles for
the DPRK, especially since the fall of the Soviet Union.
Japan's apology for its past colonial rule and agreement to
pay reparations--in the form of grants, long-term loans and
humanitarian assistance--must be seen as a breakout from the
DPRK's isolation in the face of an extremely hostile and
aggressive U.S. stance.
On the other hand, the north and south Korean people's
desire for national unity and sovereignty are sources of worry
and concern for U.S. imperialism. This revolutionary solidarity
spurred on by revelations of U.S. atrocities in the 1950s has
the U.S. worried.
Despite these strategic considerations, imperialism's
ultimate goal is economic super-exploitation. A century of U.S.
imperialist domination in the Philippines has meant people
living below the absolute poverty line, which means a lack of
food, clothing and shelter. Still, the main concern of the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank, expressed to the
Philippine government, is to cut what meager social spending
exists to reduce a government budget deficit of 155 billion
pesos.
The single largest source of export earning to reduce this
deficit is the exported labor of Filipinos, who travel
worldwide to work and send money to destitute relatives. This
explains why the IMF has demanded a freeze on the wages of
nurses in the Philippines. The Philippines is the number-one
exporter of nurses in the world, despite the fact that a
majority of the people lack even the most basic health care. A
recent legislative bill raising nurses' wages from about $173
per month was opposed by another bill trying to make nurses
"more marketable abroad."
The Arroyo administration has increased human-rights abuses
and declared war on the NPA despite peace talks. Some $4.5
billion in U.S. military aid will be used for increased
repression to facilitate the return of the Pentagon. This aid
is a far greater sum than the entire Philippine budget
deficit.
The return of the U.S. military will also lead to an
increase in poverty, inequality and fierce resistance. In the
end, though, the working and oppressed masses in Asia will have
the final say.
Reprinted from the Oct. 17, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyrighted
under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe to WW by Email: wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Donate to
support pro-labor, anti-war news.
Email
this article
Printable
page