Mass marches force closing of ASEAN summit

The Philippine government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo abruptly canceled a much hyped summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations on Dec. 8, shortly before the leaders of these nations were scheduled to meet in Cebu City to ratify trade and security agreements. The official reason for the cancellation was the supposed threat of Typhoon Seniang, although weather forecasters had issued no dire warning for the area.

Protest in Cebu City. WW photo: Dianne Mathiewitz

Most people, including journalists and political observers, agreed with the progressive movement’s assessment: that the real storm was the rising popular opposition to the government’s policies.

Like U.S. President George W. Bush, Arroyo is widely considered to have gained office through electoral fraud. She is a staunch supporter of the “war on terror” and did not hesitate to send Filipino troops to Iraq.

Teresa Guitierrez speaking at protest in Philippines. WW photo: Dianne Mathiowetz

The Arroyo regime’s latest political outrage was an attempt to ram through changes in the Philippine Constitution, the one instituted after the 1986 overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship. After her initial effort to alter the constitution was declared illegal by the country’s highest court, Arroyo and her supporters in the lower house of congress tried still another maneuver to expand presidential powers to repress the population and open the country to even greater domination by foreign capital, most notably from the United States.

In a colossal blunder, Arroyo’s cohorts failed to constitute themselves as delegates to a sham constitutional convention that would have rubber-stamped the reactionary changes she sought. And instead of fooling the people, the regime’s machinations sparked mass outrage from every sector, including labor, women, students and intellectuals.The Catholic Church has also signaled its opposition, and along with many others is calling for a Dec. 17 rally and march in Manila.

Leading role for BAYAN

The group playing a leading role in the demonstrations is the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan—BAYAN. “As long as the illegitimate president and her stubborn allies in the House of Representatives pursue their selfish options to change the constitution, protests will continue until the administration gives up its plans for charter change,” BAYAN Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr. said.

Simultaneous with the attempted legislative coup d’etat, the level of repression against progressive political forces has intensified. During Arroyo’s term in office, hundreds and hundreds of union activists and advocates for the poor have been assassinated, disappeared, jailed or tortured.

In fact, in the week after the ASEAN summit was canceled, Jesus Buth Servida was murdered in front of the plant where he was an organizer and formerly worked.

Workers struggling for living wages and decent working conditions at transnational plants owned by billion-dollar profit-making companies such as Toyota are often fired in retaliation for their organizing efforts.

The overall living standard of Filipino workers and peasants is in a disastrous freefall as the economy loses its national character and becomes subservient to foreign capital.

It is estimated that 3,000 Filipinos leave their homes each day to seek work abroad in order to sustain their families. The remittances sent back home make up an essential part of the country’s economic stability. BAYAN also organizes among the Filipino diaspora, and BAYAN USA is an alliance of anti-imperialist Filipino organizations in the United States.

The Philippine government is a key player in the commodification of workers. It acts as a recruiting agent in the marketing of Filipino workers abroad. Nurses, laborers and domestic workers from the Philippines can be found in most countries, from the United States to Iraq to Saudi Arabia.

Holding the ASEAN summit in the Philippines had been envisioned as a way for Arroyo to prove her usefulness to the forces of globalization, and particularly to the U.S. war machine.

Millions of dollars were diverted, spent to build a fancy venue for the summit in Cebu City. Flowers and trees were planted along the streets the delegates were expected to travel—although just feet away on the side streets, desperately wretched housing abounds.

About 10,000 police and military troops, along with high-tech equipment and armaments, were brought in from all parts of the country to prevent disruptions and protests.

Undeterred by the state’s threats, people’s conferences, encampments and demonstrations were organized to expose the real conditions facing workers, farmers, fisherpeople and others in their struggles for justice, equality and democracy.

Anti-militarist actions

International delegations attended several of these progressive events, including the Jobs and Justice Conference on Dec.7-8, the International Conference on U.S. Militarism and War on Terror in the Asia-Pacific on Dec. 9-10, and the International Human Rights Day march in Cebu City on Dec. 10.

Teresa Gutierrez, national co-director of the International Action Center and a member of the U.S. delegation, addressed the militant marchers: “Today is Human Rights Day and Dr. Martin Luther King once said that the greatest purveyor of violence was the U.S. government. For this and for fighting for his people as well as for condemning the U.S. war against Vietnam, Dr. King was assassinated by the government. This is but one example of how the U.S. government cannot set the agenda on human rights. George Bush’s alliance with Macapagal-Arroyo is an affront to Filipinos and to progressives in the U.S.”

Gutierrez told the crowd that the movement in the United States not only wants to defeat imperialism, it wants a society where money is spent on people’s needs, not war and profits. “When that day comes,” she said, “we will invade the Philippines again—but with love, peace and friendship.”

Attending the conference were representatives from 19 countries, mostly in Asia, ranging from north and south Korea to New Zealand and Australia, Pakistan to Nepal, Hong Kong to Taiwan. Delegates also traveled from Europe, Canada and the United States. BAYAN USA, the IAC and the Malcolm X Grassroots Organization made up the U.S. delegation.

Mathiowetz, a retired auto worker from Atlanta, attended the progressive events.