La politica estera independente del Presidente Duterte

Centi di Teddy Casino

Pubblicato 16:00, 29 settembre 2016

Aggiornato 16:23, 29 settembre 2016

 Tradutto e ripubblicato da Belarmino D. Saguing 

Roma, 02 Nov. 2016

Perché è che, nel contesto delle Filippine, una politica estera indipendente è necessariamente antagonistica a Stati Uniti e i suoi interessi? 

Quando presidente Rodrigo Duterte dice Filippine non è uno stato vassallo della Stati Uniti d'America, o quando lui insiste che vuole perseguire una "politica estera indipendente", egli è in realtà riecheggiando un criterio sancito dalla costituzione filippina.

Il presidente Rodrigo Roa Duterte

Articolo II, Art. 7, della Costituzione afferma: "lo stato persegue una politica estera indipendente. Nelle sue relazioni con altri stati la considerazione fondamentale sarà sovranità nazionale, l'integrità territoriale, interesse nazionale e il diritto all'autodeterminazione."

È interessante notare che, nessun presidente filippino dal forse Manuel Luis Quezon, che ha detto che avrebbe piuttosto un paese gestito come l'inferno da filippini di una corsa come il cielo dagli americani, ha espresso l'aderenza a tale politica in termini così forte come Duterte.

Perché è che, nel contesto delle Filippine, una politica estera indipendente è necessariamente antagonistica a Stati Uniti e i suoi interessi? Una rapida lettura della storia mostra il perché.

Fin da quando gli americani ingannato Aguinaldo, Buencamino e Paterno et. altri nel 1898, gli Stati Uniti praticamente ha dettato il modo ci relazioniamo con esso e il resto del mondo. Questo fecero gli americani come nostri padroni coloniali dal 1902 al 1946 e come nostro neocoloniale burattinai dal 1946 ad oggi. Foto grafico di pres Duterte di soldati americani calpestare i cadaveri dei Moros nel massacro di Bud Dajo è solo la punta dell'iceberg di una storia lunga e brutale di dominio americano e l'intervento nei nostri affari.

Il massacro di Bud Dajo

Anche se gli Stati Uniti ci ha concesso l'indipendenza dopo la liberazione giapponese, ha fissato un involto di stringhe che legava il nostro sviluppo politico ed economico all'agenda imperialista dell'America (per esempio The Bell Trade Act, accordo di basi militari RP-USA, accordo di assistenza militare RP-USA, il trattato di difesa reciproca, tra gli altri.) Questa è stata seguita da accordi onerosi e dure imposizioni sotto guida USA agenzie multilaterali come il fondo monetario internazionale (FMI), Banca mondiale (WB) e l'accordo generale sulle tariffe doganali e sul commercio - organizzazione mondiale del commercio (GATT-OMC) che ha rafforzato il nostro neocoloniale politiche commerciali e di investimento, ci rende ancor più ostaggio di politica economica degli Stati Uniti.

Ferdinand Marcos portato servilismo US a un nuovo minimo da costringendo il nostro popolo una brutale dittatura fascista nel servizio dell'imperialismo statunitense. Così ha fatto gli Stati Uniti estendere il supporto pieno politico, militare ed economico al suo regime fino al sua cacciata nel 1986. Suo successore pres Corazon Aquino potrebbe avere, ma si rifiutò di, attuare una politica estera indipendente. Al contrario, ha promesso di pagare ogni centesimo di debito odioso Marcos alla banca americana, europea e giapponese e si oppose con veemenza abrogazione storico del Senato dell'accordo basi militari RP-USA nel 1991. Ha seguito fino in fondo il FMI e la condizionalità di WB e programmi di aggiustamento strutturale.

Più tardi il governo Ramos, attraverso l'accelerare crescita investimento finanziato dall'USAID e la liberalizzazione con progetto Equity (AGILE), smantellato qualunque tipo di supporto e protezione è stato lasciato per i produttori locali in ordine per NOI e altri investimenti esteri per espandere e dominare l'economia locale. Nella nostra ascensione all'OMC, negoziatori filippine erano solo troppo desiderosi di abbassare le nostre barriere commerciali a scapito dei nostri produttori locali, che fino ad ora non hanno mai pienamente recuperato dall'assalto della globalizzazione.

Nel 1999, il governo di Estrada ha permesso il ritorno degli Stati Uniti truppe militari sotto contratto forze visitando RP-US (VFA). Ciò è stata seguita dalla reciproca logistica e Supply accordo (MLSA) approvato sotto pres Arroyo e l'Enhanced difesa cooperazione accordo (EDCA) approvato sotto pres Aquino. Tutti insieme, questi accordi rendono ora possibile per gli Stati Uniti di installare una serie di strutture militari USA in tutto l'arcipelago per fungere da basi in avanti nel suo perno dell'Asia, inclusa la gioco di potere con la Cina.

Tagliare i legami con l'America 

Per riassumere, il nostro passato coloniale e presente neocoloniale hanno fatto le Filippine non solo un avamposto militare US nel sud-est asiatico ma una fonte di manodopera a basso costo e materie prime, un mercato stabile per i suoi prodotti e un sito di investimento redditizio per le imprese transnazionali. Tutto questo a scapito della sovranità nazionale e il nostro sviluppo come un'economia moderna, autosufficiente e industriale. Nessuna meraviglia che nonostante le nostre eccessivamente ricche risorse naturali e una popolazione altamente di talento, giovane e in crescita, restiamo un paese povero e sottosviluppato, scorrevole in stato dal numero di Asia 2 negli anni ' 50 per la proverbiale malato oggi.

È in questa luce che una politica estera indipendente diventa così importante. Tale politica deve necessariamente partono da decenni di programmi politici ed economici USA-imposto e ci aiutano a liberarsi dalla mentalità coloniale che ci ha colpito come una nazione.

Una politica estera indipendente significa tagliare i legami con l'America?

Solo un pazzo potrebbe pensare che. Ma sicuramente, richiede una ridefinizione tanto necessaria e lungo ritardata delle nostre relazioni "speciali" con gli Stati Uniti. Per nessun altro paese ha calpestato la nostra sovranità nazionale, l'integrità territoriale, interesse nazionale e il diritto di autodeterminazione, più che gli Stati Uniti d'America.Non in Spagna, non Giappone, nemmeno la Cina nonostante le sue azioni illegali e spregevole nel mare delle Filippine West.

Se Presidente Duterte è grave nel perseguire una politica estera indipendente, che vada oltre parlare male di Barack Obama o mostrando il dito medio dell'UE. Naturalmente a calci fuori delle truppe statunitensi da Mindanao e coinvolgente Cina in colloqui bilaterali nel mare delle Filippine West è un buon inizio.

Ma per essere veramente significativa, tale politica dovrà essere tradotta in azioni diplomatiche più audace e riforme politiche e socio-economiche profonde che tengono la nostra sovranità, l'integrità territoriale, interesse nazionale e diritto all'autodeterminazione sopra qualsiasi potenza straniera.

In questo contesto, chiediamo che l'USA e la UE media mainstream che essi, troppo, moderare i loro reportage e smettere di ritrarre come un mostro il nostro Presidente, il primo veramente Filippino nazionalistico e Pro-popolo Presidente.

A STRANGE WORLD OF DOUBLE-STANDARD SENSE OF JUSTICE

A STRANGE WORLD OF DOUBLE-STANDARD SENSE OF JUSTICE
Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing
Rome, Italy 19 September 2016

A few days ago, I was questioned by an Italian about the by now ‘famous’ summary killings in my country. A very hard egg to break question because he is clearly thinking about President Duterte’s extra-judicial killings. I said nothing specific at that moment because I am not really sure what to say, so first thing I did when I reached home, is to open my computer to search the internet for facts.

And sure enough, what the internet shows are mostly EJKs under Duterte while the bigger slice under the administrations fro Marcos (who originated it) is hardly mentioned andis practically enclosed in parenthesis when mentioned. Exposing the truth remains a failing point to the mainstream media.

Extrajudicial killing is not explicitly defined in international law. Some broadly define it as a killing that is not sanctioned by the courts and done outside the legal system. The Philippine Supreme Court further refined this definition to also consider the political affiliation of the victim, the method of attack and alleged involvement of state agents.

The situation before Duterte

Salaries are low, with the past administrations turning its back on the farmers calling for higher wages. With the implementation of a program to add two additional years in secondary school and the rising cost of schooling, hundreds of thousands of students face the danger of not being able to continue schooling. Corruption is rampant in the government, with countless billions going into the pockets of government officials. Many of them are also from landed families themselves or have ties with corporate entities, making the Philippine government a platform for serving the interests of a chosen few.* Criminals, notably the illicit drug merchants, were free to perpetrate their criminal trade protected by powerful people in the government and uniformed services continue to get rich with their criminal ‘business’-  

With this much conflict and oppression in the Philippines, it would not be much of a wonder if criticism is abundant and social movements thrive in the country. Where there is oppression, there certainly will be resistance. Yet sadly, activists and their criticisms have been met by the government head-on with no less than bullets and blood. There was the incident a few months ago, well-known to the people but ignored by the streamline media of the massacre of farmers victims of El Nino phenomena, who were asking for government’s food subsidy  in Mindanao, who instead of assistance, were fronted by the police who shoot them indiscriminately killing and wounding many.

A Deadly Place for Human Rights Advocates

The Philippines is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world to engage in human rights advocacy. Front Line Defenders, a global organization that protects human rights defenders, ranked the country the second most dangerous for human rights advocates. Global Witness, an international advocacy group fighting against environmental and human rights abuses, says it is the third-deadliest for environmental and Indigenous rights activists. Committee to Protect Journalists, which promotes press freedom and the right of journalists to report the news without reprisal worldwide, sees it as the fourth-most dangerous country for journalists. In 2015, the US State Department concluded in its yearly report that "the most significant human rights problem continued to be extrajudicial killings … undertaken by security forces" in the Philippines.*

Human rights lawyers, judges and prosecutors have also been victims of extrajudicial killings. From 1999 to 2014, some 114 lawyers, judges and prosecutors have been killed, according to the International Association of People's Lawyers. Of these, 36 died under Aquino's watch (mid-2010 to end 2014). That's an average of two lawyers, judges or prosecutors per month.

It isn't only activists, lawyers and judges who have become victims. Civil society organizations have also experienced attacks on their development workers. The list of development workers killed include William Geertman, a Dutch NGO executive who has been living in the Philippines since the 1970s and whose organization was active in providing disaster relief and humanitarian services to farmers. He was shot in the back inside his office's compound. Another much-publicized case was that of NGO executive Emerito Samarca. His organization implemented food security and alternative learning programs for Indigenous peoples in Mindanao. He was found hogtied and stabbed by paramilitary forces allegedly employed by the military.* Priests and religious people were also victims. Father Fausto Tentorio, lovingly called ‘Father Pops’ by parishioners, was killed in front of his Parish church witnessed by terrified people. Father Tentorio advocated indigenous people’s rights and a vocal critic of big foreign and local corporations who are usurping indigenous lands for big scale mining and plantations for export agro-products and illegal loggers.

The difference

While the extra-judicial killings in the past government administration were directed against people’s advocates wrongfully and maliciously tagged as “enemies of the State”, was done to preserve the corrupt status quo, the present government of President Duterte is targeting the real enemies of the the Philippine society. Extra-judicial killings is an indefensable human rights violation. We cannot give any excuse for it.

But it is also not right to criminalize a President for doing something his predecessors has omitted to do. The fight against the drug problem has been willfully and criminally neglected by the past administrations because it is lucrative for them or at least for their cronies too. In the past, the drug lords were also processed and put to prison. But they were left to their business by corrupt officials who receive big sums of money from the drug lords, so much so that the present authorities discovered drug-producing laboratories are operating inside the national penitentiary complete with an arsenal of fire arms and ammunition. It was found that the drug lords are held in luxurious cells and living like kings inside the prison. 

And critics were silent about it. 

Now, don’t we find it disconcerting that President Duterte is receiving barrage of criticisms for his drug wars while critics were silent in the past against the open violations of the laws by the corrupt officials of the past?

It is right to criticize what is wrong, but not to the extent of being unjust by numbing our minds to realities.

Truly, people has double standard in judging things.

###





*Analisys- The Killing Fields: Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines By Mark Ambay, Truthout | News Analysis

The Three bloodstained regimes of the Philippine

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

Rome, Italy 25 June 2016

Marcos Administration (1965 - 1986)

On 21 September 1972, then President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law in the Philippines. Marcos gave the armed forces the power to "prevent or suppress… any act of insurrection or rebellion" which compromised the people's rights.  A total of 398 disappearances, 1,388 extrajudicial killings, and 1,499 killed or wounded in massacres were recorded but not every victim was accounted for.

After the declaration of Martial Law, Marcos issued six (6) general orders and an instruction to close privately owned media facilities. The Press Secretary, Francisco Tatad, and Secretary for National Defense, Juan Ponce Enrile, were ordered by Marcos "to take over and control or cause the taking over and control of all such newspapers, magazines, radio and television facilities and all other media communications... The information released to the public was highly censored and prevented journalists from releasing any suspicious information about the administration. Failure to abide would lead to arrest.

The assassination of Senator Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino triggered the peaceful 1986 EDSA People Power Revolution, led by Aquino's wife, Corazon "Cory" Aquino. The peaceful revolution united the nation in a call against Marcos to uphold their human rights. It led to the abolition of Martial Law, the exile of the Marcos family, as well as Cory Aquino's rise to the presidency.

Arroyo Administration (2001 - 2010)

The Arroyo Administration was riddled by its several issues on several forms of violations against human rights. Most of these which include the increase in military power and presence, especially in Muslim Mindanao.  Philip Alston, a UN Rapporteur, published Promotion and Protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right To Development on 2008 that chronicled and reported the situation he had found while in the Philippines. Many incidents of extrajudicial killings were linked to this report, most notable of which is Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao, who was a direct testimony of the abuses concerning the military.

 

The Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao Murder

Sichi Bustamante-Gandinao was a peasant organizer in Salay, Misamis Oriental.  She was the chairman of the Misamis Oriental Farmers Organization and the coordinator of the party list group called  Bayan Muna. She was also an outspoken critic of the actions the Citizens' Armed Force Geographical Unit or CAFGU, and how they disrupt the relatively peaceful communities in Misamis Oriental. Philip Alston was a UN Rapporteur, who had Gandinao as a testimony to the extrajudicial killings, and other violations of human rights the military was practicing, whether it was the military is contested by the Military.  The Alston report was published on 2008, which highlighted these abuses through the United Nations General Assembly.  On the March 2007, however, Gandinao, together with her husband and daughter, was walking home after a day of doing farm work. Gandinao was then shot four times by two men on a motorcycle heading towards a nearby military camp, while Gandinao's family helplessly watched the attack  The local officials and passers-by all told Gandinao's husband and daughter that they were too busy to tend to the bleeding Gandinao  According to reports, after two hours of bleeding profusely, the assailants went back to the scene of the crime and even watched the entire ordeal of Gandinao. Her husband had to carry her to the Cagayan de Oro ambulance, which took another hour to get to the actual hospital. In the Cagayan de Oro hospital, Gandinao was pronounced dead on arrival

Vigilantism and Death Squad

According to the Alston report, the presence of "vigilantism" and Death Squad in Davao has been a commonplace occurrence, and has been going on for some time now, prior to his visit in the Philippines from 2006 to 2007.  The Death Squad, however, operate with no intention of hiding their identities, and in broad daylight. Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte has held office, aside from a brief stint as a congressman, since 1988. Rodrigo Duterte is known for his strict, anti-criminal approach in governing Davao City. However, in the same report, Rodrigo Duterte has admitted that hundreds of unsolved murders were committed during his time as mayor, and that he takes for "full responsibility" of it.  When Duterte was first elected as mayor, he faced a Davao with problems like rampant youth gangs, the New Peoples' Army (NPA) killing policemen routinely, and crime  The Davao Death Squad (DDS) has had over 500 victims since 1998; killing targets in public and in broad daylight  These executions were a response to petty crimes, and targets are sent warnings explaining why they are targeted by the DDS  It was, however, noted that during Duterte's term as mayor, criminal activity has decreased significantly. It should also be noted, however, that there are hundreds of unsolved murders.^\

Benigno Aquino Administration (2010 – 2016

On 30 June 2010, Benigno Aquino III was sworn into office as the President of the Philippines  Notable acts during his term include the implementation of the K-12 program, the revocation of midnight appointments, the founding of the Philippine Truth Commission, the creation of agencies such as the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), and the framing of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. The administration vowed to eradicate corruption within the government system, but has yet to resolve such cases as those regarding Hacienda Luisita  and the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam. Listed below are the cases of human rights violations under the second Aquino administration:

 

Lumad Killings

The Lumads are people from various ethnic groups in Mindanao island. Residing in their ancestral lands

 they are often evicted and displaced due to the Moro people's claim on the same territory The Lumads have lost parts of their ancestral land due to a failure to understand the modern land tenure system.  To counter this, the Lumads established schools in their communities, supplying essential knowledge for the tribe members that would protect their rights, property and culture.  However, the Lumad communities are located in mountains that are distant from urban areas. These areas are also the location sites of armed conflictbetween the New People's Army (NPA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Caught in the conflict, the Lumad people's education, property, and security are endangered because of the increasing amount of military activity by the armed parties. ^] Increasing military activity have eventually led to the displacement of the communities to shelter sites. Anxiety continues to grow among the Lumads with the escalation of armed conflict and detainment of community leaders (tribe leaders and teachers) labelled as rebels by the military  Alternative schools within the communities (aided by NGOs and universities) face concerns of closing down or demolition of their property, with some buildings converted by the military for their use  Lumad leaders and tribesmen, having experienced political detention due to false suspicions as well as the displacement of their tribes from their areas, have demanded respect for their human rights.

In response to the killing, detention, and displacement of members of their tribes, the Lumads have organized groups to gain the public's attention, calling for the halt of militarization in their communities. Students, religious leaders, and human rights advocates have supported the Lumads in their movement against the militarization. Activities held to support the Lumad movements have included concerts, cultural festivals (focusing on ethnic culture), and commemoration of Lumad leaders killed in the conflict. Activity leaders have included Fr. Fausto Tentorio, Fr. Tullio Favali, and Fr. Salvatore Carzedda  Groups like the Manilakbayan 2015 supported the movements through recruitment and the handing out of national situationers to students to spread awareness about the Lumads' dilemma The Philippines' Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has been investigating the incidents in regard to the 2015 murder of Lumad leaders and a school official by aparamilitary group called Magahat/Bagani  (in line with the idea of CAFGU) created by the AFP to hunt for NPA members. The AFP denies the allegation and attributes the killings to tribal conflict  However, the AFP has admitted that CAFGU has Lumad recruits within its ranks while asserting that the NPA has also recruited Lumads for the group  There is also delay of a decision on the CHR investigation due to the noncooperation of the Lumad group after the interruption of the investigation by the spokesman of Kalumaran Mindanao, Kerlan Fanagel. Fanagel insists that the group need not have another 'false' dialogue with the CHR since CHR has yet to present the results/findings of the investigations from the past months when Lumad leaders were killed. Because of the lack of data, CHR decided to postpone the presentation of their initial report to the second week of December 2015.

Political prisoners

Political prisoners are people arrested because of their opposition towards the current Aquino government; they are seen as 'enemies of the state' and are imprisoned upon arrest. As recorded by the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) and the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) in September 2014, 840 political prisoners were held in detention cells and prisons. To promote human rights, the government has permitted access to international humanitarian organizations and have granted pardon, parole, and amnesty programs based on NGOs' lists

Journalist killings

The number of journalist killings under the Aquino administration has been noted to be the highest since 1986.  Because of this, the Philippines has been ranked by CNN as the third deadliest country for journalists,  Information about disappearances and murders of reporters are kept from the public, making several agencies/organizations as well as whistleblowers at risk of exposure to harm. Some of the well-known journalists killed in their line of work during the Aquino government include: Henry Araneta, Desidario Camangyan, Joselito Agustin, Gerardo Ortega, Romeo Olea, Christopher Guarin, Mario Sy, Fernando Solijon, Joas Dignos, and Rubylita Garcia.  According to the 2014 Human Rights Watch Report, only 6 out of 26 cases managed to identify/capture their suspects.

The Aquino administration implemented reforms towards more effective criminal investigation procedures, in addition to passing laws to better uphold human rights. However, these reforms are underdeveloped. An example is Administration Order 35, which acquired problems in identifying which case to pursue due to the process requirements

 

Source: Human rights in the Philippines  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_the_Philippines#Arroyo_Administration_.282001_-_2010.29

###