Source: Migrante Partylist Italy
Chapt. Powerpoint based on the Primer SABWATANG TERORISTA Praymer Hinggil sa Papel ng Gobyernong US sa Patakarang Todo-gera ng
Rehimeng Arroyo by Bagong Ayansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Oct. 2006
Introduction
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was among the first heads of state
to declare full support to the Bush government.
 |
| Ex Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
The US has mentioned the Philippines as the second front in
the “global war against terrorism”. John Negroponte, US Director for
National Intelligence, has remarked that “The US and the Philippines are
close partners in the international war on terrorism.”
 |
| John Negroponte |
Negroponte is also the head of US Counter Terrorism Center
that controls 15 espionage agencies including CIA and FBI. He became a
controversial figure when he gave the consent on the use of death squads in
Latin America in the 80s
This June, 2006, Arroyo declared an all-out war against the
“left” in general, and against the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and
New People’s Army (NPA) in particular.
How does the US support Arroyo’s all-out war?
v The
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is being trained and funded by the US
Government.
v The
Philippines is the biggest beneficiary of US foreign military assistance. The
US has set aside $38 million in 2001, $114 million in 2003, and $164 million in
2005 for the AFP.
v In
the concentration of US military education and training support, the
Philippines is second in the world and top in Asia. The Philippines receives a
subsidy of $2.7 million under the US International Military Education and
training Program.
v In
Asia, the Philippines is also top in receiving surplus defense articles with a
total costs of $148 millions.
v From
the beginning, the AFP has been dependent on the US for its training. After
World War 2, the Joint United States Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG) was
created to furnish military training to the AFP. Also, the US maintains
military bases in Clark and Subic Bay until the expiration of Military Bases
Agreement in 1992.
Why does US troops continue to remain in the Philippines?
The Philippines is important to US political and economic
interests.
After the expulsion of military bases, the presence of US
troops returned to the Philippines through a series of agreements which, except
for the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), are unratified by the Senate.
The VFA was implemented in 1999. It consents the “visit” of
US troops for unspecified frequency and in any unspecified part of the country,
for the so-called Balikatan Joint Military Exercises with the AFP.
Aside from Balikatan, other joint trainings are being
carried out or planned. –the “Kapit Bisig” is in operation for the period from
the second half of 2006 to 2007. The Cooperation Afloat and Readiness Training
(CARAT) exercises between Philippine and US Navies has just been terminated
this August, 2006. According to Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, the AFP and
American military planners are preparing a 5-year plan of activities for
2007-2011.
Also, the creation of Security Engagement Board (SEB) was
pushed thru to allegedly, respond in untraditional dangers. Thus, US troops
could now enter into the country to intervene in cases such as epidemics,
calamities and transnational crimes, and others. The scope of US entry
into the country was even more widened by the SEB.
During the heat of US aggression in Iraq, the Mutual
Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) was implemented. The MLSA permits the use of
Philippine seaports and landing facilities for US troops in this war of
aggression.
The Non-Surrender Agreement was signed to ensure that the
Philippines cannot file charges against US soldiers. Under this agreement, the
Filipinos are barred from filing suits against US troops in any National or
International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity or other war
crimes. *
* Cases of US soldiers committing crimes in the
Philippines had actually occurred, and, except for one, in no other circumstances had they been
brought to justice. The exception was the case of the 3 marines which was
brought to court recently for rape and one of them was sentenced to imprisonment.
He was spirited out of the prison and taken away from the Philippines by the
American authorities. This was well covered by the press.
The US Covert Operations in the Philippines
•
US troops are involved in intelligence,
psychological and combat operations of the AFP.
•
It was uncovered in 2002 by an international
fact-finding mission in Basilan the shooting to death of Buongbuyong Isnijal a
Moslem civilian by Reggie Lane, an American soldier. Lane was in operations
with Filipino soldiers and policemen.
•
Michael Meiring, a CIA operative was arrested in
May 2002 in Davao city , with bombs and other explosives in his person. Before
an investigation was launched, Meiring was quickly taken away by FBI agents.
According to an investigative report by Manila Times, Meiring was involved
with CIA operations with Abu Sayyaf.
•
Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga himself has said that
the Fleet Marine Tandem has been the contribution of the US Navy to the
internal security operations of the AFP.
•
The CIA has been operating in the Philippines
for a very long time.
•
In book titled “IN OUR IMAGE” by Stanley
Karnow, as early as the 1950s, the CIA under the command of Gen. Edward
Landsdale and Charles Bohannan was already using the death squads against the
Partido ng Bayan and the Hukbalahap rebels.
•
It was not even a secret to most that the dictatorship
of the Marcos regime was supported by the US. President Corazon Aquino’s Low
Inten-sity Conflict (LIC) was also of American doctrine. Under Aquino’s
regime, more than 50 vigilante groups has sown terror in the whole
country.
•
Ramos’ Oplan Bantay Bitag and Estrada’s Oplan
Makabayan are all counter-insurgency programs approved by the US.
The US role in the use of death squads in the Philippines
•
As was said before, it was the US who brought the
concept of the use of death squads in the Philippines.
•
As of now, the Cabinet Oversight Committee for
Internal Security (COC-IS) of the Philippine government, is the primary tool of the US in implementing
their suppressive and repressive policies. The COC-IS is composed by the
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, National Security Adviser Norberto
Gonzales, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes
Esperon, and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales.
•
It was the COC-IS who laid the suppressive and
murderous policies of the Arroyo regime. They were the architects of the Oplan
Bantay Laya (OBL), the bloody counter-insurgency program of the present regime.
They also were the brain behind the implementation of the Proclamation 1017,
Calibrated Preemptive Response (CPR) and the Executive Order 464.
•
Ermita and Negroponte worked together in
Vietnam. In his visit to Manila last December 2005, Negroponte conferred with
Ermita and other ranking officials of Malakanyang. In an interview with the
daily Philippine Star, Ermita admitted that he gave a report regarding
the neutralization of the government’s targets.
•
In this period (2005), 534 civilians were
already killed under the US-Arroyo regime. After Negroponte’s visit, the
ballooning rise in the numbers of victims was frighteningly noticeable. By
September 2006, the listed number victims of political killings has reached
752.*
•
Although not a member of COC-IS, General Jovito
Palparan Jr.** plays a special role. Aside from the killings and the
militarization in the countryside, it was him who propagated the communist
hysteria among the public and the Media to give a cause for the murders. He
took the Infantry Advanced Course at the US Army Infantry School in 1989. He
also commanded the Filipino troops delegation in Iraq in the same period when
Negroponte was serving as US Ambassador to Iraq.
* The number of victims of political killings in
August, 2007 was 853 and still rising.
** Gen. Palparan was
nicknamed “the Butcher” by the villagers in the countryside because people die
whenever he and his troops are around.
The similarities between Oplan Bantay Laya and the Phoenix
Program of US in Vietnam
► The
objective of both the OBL and the Operation Phoenix is the destruction of the
revolutionary forces lined against the US imperialists. Their thrusts are aimed
to devastate the so called political infrastructure of the revolutionary
movement. They accomplish this by murdering the unarmed leaders of the national
democratic movements.
► Operation
Phoenix has a fixed monthly quota of 1,800 murders. Whole civilian communities
were massacred by US troops. The US
State Department admitted that within a period of only two and a half years,
35,708 civilians were butchered and kidnapped under the CIA’s Phoenix Program.
► Both
the OBL and Operation Phoenix were aimed at priority areas. OBL has 13 areas in
7 regions. Based on the data furnished by Karapatan the three regions that has
the most numerous number of political killing victims were inside the priority
areas. For the period from January 2001 to May 2006, 146 were killed in
Southern Tagalog; 120 in Central Luzon; and 84 in Southern Mindanao.
► Another
attribute common to both OBL and Phoenix is the intensified intelligence
operations. In Vietnam, the CIA established the Combined Intelligence
Center that prepares the political order of battle. With the OBL, the AFP has
the sectoral watch list of leaders and members of organizations suspected as
being front of the communist. This is mirrored in the power point presentation Knowing
the Enemy and the book published by the Northern Luzon Command titled Trinity
of War. In both document, all organizations that they consider as communist
fronts or influenced by the communists are listed as targets.
► The
placement of check points to control the movements of the population done by
CIA in Vietnam and is being practiced in the Philippines. During the US war of
aggression in Vietnam, all Vietnamese with the age of 15 and above are required
to register and to display an identity card. In the areas indicated in OBL
particularly in Bulacan and Nueva Ecija, the populace are forced to exhibit
their cedula (residence tax certificate). Pres. Arroyo has even issued
an order for the implementation of a unified identification system for all
citizens in all transactions with any government agency. The introduction of
Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) which is an efficient method of spying
on the citizens was suggested and being studied.
The US interests in the pushing through of the Anti-Terror
Bill
•
The US government has a primary interest in the
implementation of an anti-terror law in the Philippines and in other countries.
After the 9/11, the US became more aggressive in their interventions in
internal affairs of other countries in the name of the so called “war against
terrorism”. The US is using the
unconventional fronts such as the Asia Pacific Economic Council (APEC)
and Association of South East Asian Nations in their military oriented
maneuvers.
•
The US Patriotic Act was enacted at once after
the 9/11. This law includes repressive and suppressive provisions particularly
against the immigrants from all countries. Under the US persuasions, Singapore,
Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia has passed their own anti-terrorism
legislation and other similar mechanisms.
•
In this context, Pres. Arroyo was hurrying the
works for the enactment of the Anti-terror Bill (ATB) that should be passed
before the ASEAN Conference on December 2006 in Cebu City.* She is persevering
to be the US number one puppet to save her regime which by now is in agony.
* The Anti-Terror Bill
was passed by the Philippine Congress in February 2007 and ratified by the
Joint Congress and Senate Session last July 2007 under the title of “Human
Security Act” (HSA), over the mass opposition and protest of Filipinos both in
the country and abroad.
•
Under the ATB, the progressive organizations
could be tagged as “terrorists” organizations, everyone who criticize or oppose
her regime and the imperialist US could be suppressed under the so-called struggle
against terrorism. Even the legitimate protests could be punished under this
law. And the violations of human rights could worsen.
The essence of US global war against terrorism
•
The global war against terrorism is terrorism in
itself. For its imperialist motives, the US is sowing terror around the world.
•
By the year 2005, the US has 386,000 troops
stationed in 150 countries around the world including 70,000 in Asia alone.
•
Also, the US has the biggest arsenal of weapons
of mass destruction in form of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The US
is the only country in the world with a history of using a nuclear bomb against
another country in the second World War.
•
The US is creating new enemies when the Cold War
ended, to justify their aggressions and interventions against other countries.
After attacking Iraq for inexistent weapons of mass destruction, and
Afghanistan because of Bin Laden, US has tagged North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba
as “the Axis of Evil”.
•
In the successive Quadrennial Defense Review
(QDR2001 and 2006), it appears that US has now a strategic leaning on the
orient, from Europe towards Asia. The US Pacific Command (PACOM) has designated
Southeast Asia as the frontline of the global war against terrorism.
•
The US is also carrying out bilateral military
exercises with Thailand (Cobra Gold), Japan (Keen Sword), South
Korea (Ulchi Focus Lens) and Australia (Talisman Saber).
•
The truth is, the real targets of these US
measures are the democratic, patriotic and anti-imperialist groups and
individuals not only in the Philippines but in the whole world as well.
•
The growing economic crisis of the US
imperialism is launching its militarism. It cannot continue further with its
own crisis of over-production that makes the US more ferocious in intensifying
its plundering of other country’s wealth.
What should be done
•
All efforts should be exerted to expose the role
of the imperialist US in the suppression and repressions of the Filipino
people. Studies should be launched in schools, communities, factories and other
places. To utilize all forms of actions to manifest our analyses.
•
It is necessary to gather together all patriotic
groups and individuals to protest against the US interventions in all fields of
actions.
•
All efforts should be made to oust the puppet
Arroyo. Her ousting could be a severe blow to US imperialism.
Translated from
SABWATANG TERORISTA
Praymer Hinggil sa Papel ng Gobyernong US sa Patakarang Todo-gera ng Rehimeng Arroyo
Bagong Ayansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Oct. 2006
SABWATANG TERORISTA
Praymer Hinggil sa Papel ng Gobyernong US sa Patakarang Todo-gera ng Rehimeng Arroyo
Bagong Ayansang Makabayan (BAYAN), Oct. 2006
Bibliography
Ralph McGehee – CIA and Operations Phoenix in Vietnam
http://manila.usembassy.gov/wwwhr.126.html - RP Biggest Beneficiary of US Military Aid in Asia
Ana Marie Pamintuan – US Intel Director: JI Terrorists Using RP
as Sanctuary, Philippine Star
Bobby Tuazon – Macapagal-Arroyo’s “Silent War” Against the Left.
Bulatlat.com
Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) – Human
Rights Abuses in the Philippines, Shades of El Salvador, Vietnam
Abner Bolos – Death Squads, The CIA and Political Killings in
Central Luzon.
Alexander Martin Remolino – Palparan’s Path: Trail of Blood,
Child Victims
Institute of Political Economy (IPE) – Briefing Paper on US
Imperialism in Southeast Asia and ASEAN
US RP Navies Start Today War Exercises in Subic, Other Areas
Ralph McGehee – CIA Support of Death Squads
KARAPATAN Power Point – The Human Rights Situation
Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, Power Point – Oplan
Bantay Laya
Translations and Power point adaptation by
MIGRANTE PARTY LIST Italy Chapter
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