Eject US Troops Now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                        September 16, 2009

Reference: Rhonda Ramiro, Secretary General, secgen@bayanusa.org

U.S. Troops Fuel Insecurity Crisis in the Philippines

BAYAN-USA Calls on U.S. Government to Terminate Visiting Forces Agreement

September 16 marks the historic Philippine Senate vote to reject the renewal of a U.S. military bases treaty, but recent declarations by U.S. and Philippine defense officials reveal their desire to erase history in order to secure the future of U.S. imperialism and the Philippine elite who benefit from it.

Responding to decades of protest demanding that U.S. bases in the Philippines be shut down, the 12-11 Senate vote on September 16, 1991 effectively ejected U.S. troops from the country.  In a clear affront to Philippine sovereignty and the will of the people, however, the controversial U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement was enacted shortly thereafter in 1999.  Since then, tens of thousands of U.S. soldiers, commanders, advisors, special operatives, and other military personnel have flooded back into the country, along with nearly $1 billion worth of military aid and materiel.

Despite massive demonstrations, senate and congressional hearings, and a Supreme Court review of the constitutionality of the agreement in the Philippines, president after president in both countries has staunchly defended the reviled agreement. In a phone call in March and a state meeting in July with President Gloria Arroyo this year, President Barack Obama affirmed his support for the Visiting Forces Agreement and continuing the annual joint military exercises known as “Balikatan” (“Shoulder-to-Shoulder”).   “Despite his rhetoric of ‘change,’ President Obama and his cabinet have clung to Bush’s foreign policy when it comes to the Philippines,” said BAYAN-USA Chair Berna Ellorin.

At the end of last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced that the U.S. has been keeping a 600-strong Joint Special Operations Task Force in the Philippines since 1999, and that the U.S. intends to maintain the forces there indefinitely.  Gates’ announcement was followed by a visit from Philippine Defense Secretary and presidential aspirant Gilberto Teodoro, who last week pledged his commitment to the Visiting Forces Agreement and continued “cooperation” with the U.S. military.

“Declaring the ‘permanent and continuous presence’ of U.S. troops is like giving a life sentence to the Philippines,” said Ellorin.  “Indefinite military presence holds the Philippines prisoner to the failed Bush-Cheney military doctrine, sacrificing the Philippines’ sovereignty for a policy that has fueled thousands of human rights violations against innocent civilians and made the world less safe for everyone.”

US Intervention Can Never Lead to Peace

News Release

September 16, 2009

Reference: Peter Arvin Jabido, NY Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, email: nychrp@gmail.com


US Intervention Can Never Lead to Peace– NYCHRP

The claim of 2010 Philippine Presidential aspirant Gilberto Teodoro Jr. that a so-called “physical peace” in the Philippines must be enforced by way of US militarization and increased military spending is nothing short of an opportunist ploy to win Washington’s support for the Arroyo camp’s pick as the next president of the Philippines and for Arroyo’s Charter Change.

Philippine Defense Secretary Teodoro’s recent US visit relays no genuine interest on the Arroyo government’s part to seek peace in the Philippines, but rather an interest to lick Uncle Sam’s heels like an obedient lapdog.

Armed Conflict

Under the guise of holding meetings on peace and security with US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Intelligence Director Dennis Cutler Blair, and Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Edward Panetta, Teodoro sealed military pacts wherein US troops would remain stationed indefinitely in the Philippines under the auspices of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and Balikatan Joint Military Exercises between the US and Philippine armed forces.

But such militarist measures cannot resolve the ongoing phenomenon of armed conflict in the Philippines. Like other poor countries throughout Asia, Latin America, and Africa, armed conflict and civil unrest are born out of conditions of hunger, poverty, and acute socio-economic disparities. The same is the case with armed conflict and civil unrest in the Philippines.

Peace Negotiations

If the Arroyo-Teodoro tandem is interested building a just and lasting peace in the Philippines, it should revisit its June 15th commitment to lift the suspension on the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG), drop all charges it has placed against consultants for the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), so that the formal peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NDFP can officially resume.

The peace negotiations have not only produced agreements that bind both parties to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) when conducting armed conflict, they also actively engage the GRP to build peace by way of implementing very basic social and economic reforms in the Philippines, including genuine land reform, jobs creation through national industrialization, ending government corruption, etc.

US Intervention = Control, Not Peace

To refute Teodoro’s line, US militarization in the Philippines can never be about peace. It is about control, the type of control that requires a suppression of the Filipino people’s nationalist aspirations. Suppression can only lead to resistance and more social unrest, an unending cycle.

Now with former Philippine Navy officer Nancy Gadian’s whistle-blowing that US troops are in fact engaged in domestic combat operations in the Philippines and a recent American investigative journalist’s admittance that Blackwater holds a training facility in Subic Bay, how can we expect any prospects for peace under the militarist Teodoro, Arroyo’s wunderkind?

Perhaps the kind of peace Teodoro is referring to is the peace of mind Washington has in knowing that US troops in the Philippines and the Bush administration’s foreign policy in the Philippines will remain, and that absolutely no genuine change is in store for the Philippines under a US-backed puppet government. ###

CRISIS OF IMPERIALISM, IMPACT ON THE PHILIPPINES AND CHALLENGE TO THE FILIPINO STUDENT YOUTH

(Message to the League of Filipino Students)

By Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International League of Peoples’ Struggle
Founding Chairman, Kabataang Makabayan
September 11, 2009

It is always an honor and privilege for me to convey warmest greetings of solidarity to the national officers, general membership and all chapters of the League of Filipino Students (LFS) on the occasion of its founding anniversary today.

As requested, I am glad to update you briefly on the crisis of imperialism in the economic, political, military and cultural fields, assess the impact of such crisis on the semicolonial and semifeudal ruling system in the Philippines and challenge the LFS and entire student youth to continue advancing the struggle for national democracy.

LFS-SFSU Demand Justice for Students in Philippines!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2009

Reference: Jessica Antonio, Chairperson, lfs.sfsu@gmail.com

The League of Filipino Students- SFSU Call for Justice for Students in the Philippines!

On August 19th, the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, and Presidential Security Group violently dispersed members of the League of Filipino Students, Anakbayan, and the Student Christian Movement, who were protesting in front of Malacanang Palace to express their outrage over President Arroyo’s rampant abuse of government money used to finance her recent trip to visit President Obama.  Mrs. Arroyo and her entourage of more than 20 administrators feasted on extravagant dinners which amounted to more than $40,000, while the economic troubles of the Philippines worsen and thousands of people are left hungry each day.

The Presidential Security Group’s vicious response resulted in 17 students sustaining multiple injuries as they were beaten with batons and physically assaulted. They detained 20 students, keeping them from paralegals who wanted to check on their well-being. The students protesting were merely demonstrating their disgust over the government’s refusal to provide basic human necessities – food, medicine, water, access to an education, jobs, and housing.

As is often the case, the Arroyo government has attempted to silence the voice of the people through the use of violence.  Under this administration, there have been over 1,100 reported cases of human rights abuses, which involve the kidnapping, torture, and killing of teachers, students, journalists, church leaders, and labor organizers.  A recent case includes the abduction and torture of Filipino American, Melissa Roxas, this past May.

The League of Filipino Students San Francisco along with BAYAN USA demand that there be justice for those that were detained and call for the investigation and prosecution of the police forces involved in the violent attacks and arrests of these students. As compatriots living in the United States, we are also concerned with the current state of our home country, which has suffered under countless corrupt administrations that have ceaselessly worked to fill its coffers at the expense of the people! We understand the necessity to voice our outrage against these human rights violations and demand for the Philippine government to be held accountable to these atrocities and spending habits during this worldwide economic crisis. We stand in solidarity with our fellow youth and students and commend them for speaking out against this corrupt administration!

TAKE ACTION AGAINST THE GOVERNOR’S 100% CUT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAMS

FILIPINO-AMERICAN WOMEN EXPRESS OUTRAGE AT GOVERNOR’S 100% CUT ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE PROGRAMS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 5, 2009

Reference: Marisa Mariano, Chair, Babae-San Francisco
babaesf@gmail.com

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger cut $489 million from the state budget passed last week by the state legislature, cuts which were directed primarily towards the state’s health and human service programs. Filipina-American women of Babae, the San Francisco chapter of GABRIELA USA, are especially shocked and outraged at Schwarzenegger’s elimination of the entire state’s funding support for California’s crucial Domestic Violence Programs. Domestic violence shelters were already preparing for the 20% funding cut proposed by the state legislature, but will now be forced to close their doors entirely or scramble to seek new sources of funding. Affecting the most vulnerable citizens of the state, battered women and children will be left with no place to go as the $20.4 million in cuts affects 94 domestic violence shelters throughout California. These shelters not only offer a safe space for women and children escaping and seeking protection from their abusers, but also provide vital services to help rebuild their lives. Shelters across the state are now being forced to lay off staff and eliminate services including their emergency shelter, transitional housing, legal advocacy, and counseling programs, as well as those which serve the young victims of abuse, such as child  counseling  and support groups. It is equally important to remember that these broad cuts do not only affect these much needed shelters, but also affect the valuable domestic violence programs which focus on community education, advocacy, and prevention.

“We are already experiencing deep cuts for students, children, the elderly, the disabled, the poor and the working poor throughout California, but now, if Schwarzenegger’s budget cuts are allowed to stand, survivors of violence will not have a place to turn for help and lives will inevitably be lost,” said Marisa Mariano, Babae-San Francisco Chairperson. For many communities, the budget cut coincides with an increase in reported cases of domestic violence. The stress of job loss, foreclosures, and car repossessions stemming from the current economic crisis can raise tension in vulnerable homes, leading to domestic violence. The city of Fresno has seen a 30% rise in cases of domestic violence over the past four months. “Domestic violence has been and continues to be a problem in the Filipino community. We’ve lost Marisa Corpuz and Claire Joyce Tempongko in the last few years in the city of San Francisco alone, to domestic violence and without state support and culturally relevant resources, more Filipinas will fall victim to violence.”

Babae-San Francisco stands together with domestic violence shelters, organizations, and others throughout California to protest the governor’s action and call on the state legislature to do everything in its power to restore funding to domestic violence programs and other vital health services for the most vulnerable Californians.

We urge you to take action and:

1.) Call the Governor’s office at 916-445-2841 and express your concern.

2.) Use this easy action alert tool to send a message to the Governor and your state legislators: http://www.capwiz.com/sfvo/issues/alert/?alertid=13807706&type=ML

3.) Forward this message to your family and friends and urge them to call or write the Governer and their state legislators.

Another Summer, Another Exposure Trip!

Ever since LFS-SFSU has existed, one of our main goals has been to not only talk about and study the movement in the Philippines, but to experience it for ourselves. As a chapter of LFS in the Philippines and a member organization of BAYAN-USA, we have a direct link to our kasamas in our homeland. With that link, comes the opportunity to visit, study, and integrate with the various mass organizations in the Philippines fighting for National Democracy.

Each summer we plan “Baliksambayanan”, our annual exposure trip to the Philippines. The number of exposurists can vary year-to-year. Sometimes we have over 10, others times there are less than 5. Also, you don’t have to be Filipino to attend the exposure trip. We welcome anyone who wants to learn about our movement and how our kasamas organize in the Philippines. However, there is a process. We always say: “The exposure trip begins as soon as you commit yourself to the trip.” That means much preparation months before you leave.

This year, we are proud to have sponsored Jack Stephens, LFS member and former Educational Development Officer (2007-2008). Though he is our lone exposurist this year, we are very excited for him and know that he will receive the same rich and life-changing experience others have had before him. Though Jack is not Filipino, he has done much work for LFS throughout his years as a member and an officer. It’s all about international solidarity yall!

Jack will be in the Philippines for 3 weeks, integrating with various sectors of society such as the workers through Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and peasants through Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP). Jack will be writing about his experiences in the Philippines through his blog, The Mustard Seed. Check it out! Especially if you’re interested in participating in Baliksambayanan one day, or with any of our other BAYAN-USA organizations or with other programs that connect you back home, such as the Philippine Studies Program. He’s already put up a couple entries up.

We look forward to the stories and lessons learned. Good luck Jack! See you in 3 weeks!

ILPS: ON THE COUP D’ETAT IN HONDURAS

ON THE COUP D’ETAT IN HONDURAS
By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International Coordinating Committee
International League of Peoples’ Struggle
08 July 2009

Honduras President Manuel Zelaya Rosales (UPI Photo/Monika Graff)

Riot police disperse supporters of ousted Honduras President Manuel Zelaya near the presidential residency in Tegucigalpa (Esteban Felix / Associated Press)

Before the dawn of June 28 in Honduras, some 200 heavily armed soldiers of
the Honduran army stormed the residence of elected President Jose Manuel
Zelaya, took him at gunpoint and drove him to an airplane that flew him to
Costa Rica. A few hours later, the National Congress comprised of the
country’s oligarchs quickly installed erstwhile Speaker of the House Don
Roberto Micheletti Bain as “interim president” who read a bogus letter of
resignation allegedly signed by Zelaya himself.  Later in the day, the
military arrested members of Zelaya’s cabinet, detained the ambassadors of
Venezuela and Cuba, began hunting down leaders of progressive mass
organizations and imposed a nationwide curfew.

This brazen takeover by the top brass of the Honduran Armed Forces and the
country’s traditional oligarchs has outraged the Honduran people who have
now taken to the streets to reject the putschists. Unions, students, women
and other social sectors have launched a general strike, setting up
barricades and defying the curfew imposed by the Micheletti government. The
army, headed by US-trained General Romeo Vasquez, has responded with
increasing violence which has so far resulted in at least two deaths, over a
hundred injured and hundreds more imprisoned.

The international community has roundly condemned the coup d’état and the
escalating violence of the army in Honduras. The General Assembly of the
United Nations has unanimously denounced the military takeover and demands
the restoration of Zelaya to the Honduran Presidency.  But the de facto
Micheletti government, with the support of the Army, the National Congress,
the Supreme Court and local mass media, continues to defy the Honduran
people and international opinion.

The coup d’état in Honduras is a desperate attempt by ultra-rightist forces
within the traditional pro-US Honduran elite to stem the rising tide of
change swelling from below.