BY NICK SOUDAKOFF
On January 31, US and Philippines military officials launched the
“Balikatan 2002” exercises, which bring together US troops and the soldiers
of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). While the exercises are supposedly
aimed at crushing the small terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, they will take
place in the midst of the long-running war on the southern Philippines
island of Mindanao, where the Philippines government is attempting to crush
the Moro (Muslim) community's struggle for self-determination.
Approximately 650 American soldiers are to be deployed in Mindanao for
six to 12 months. About 490 are for logistical support — air crews, medical
evacuation teams and supply units — and about 160 are elite special forces
troops, half of which are training sergeants. About 6000 AFP troops will
be involved in the operations, including elite Scout Ranger units and Philippines
Marines. Field operations will begin in mid-February.
The component of the “exercise” that will take place on Basilan Island,
the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf terrorists, is called “Kalayaan Aguila”
(Freedom Eagle) and is the first of some 16 exercises planned this year.
About 2000 US Marines are expected to arrive in April for the next “exercise”.
In the January 31 Philippine Star, it was reported that the US
command was arriving in Mindanao with the understanding that US forces
was to engage in joint military operations, “not a training exercise”.
The start of the exercises were delayed by a week so that the guidelines
could be renegotiated.
Washington is also providing Manila with 30,000 assault rifles, eight
helicopters, a high-speed naval patrol vessel, hundreds of pairs of night-vision
goggles and sophisticated communications and surveillance equipment.
US President George Bush has also promised the Philippines government
US$100 million to “fight terrorism”. Along with Abu Sayyaf, the US list
of organisations that Washington brands as “terrorists” include the Communist
Party of the Philippine's New Peoples Army, the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front, the Alex Bocayo Brigade (an urban guerilla organisation based in
Manila) and the Pentagon Gang in central Mindanao.
Opposition
According to the latest national IBON Survey, conducted between November
and December, the majority of the Philippines' people are not in favour
of having US troops on Philippines soil to fight the Abu Sayyaf group.
Asked whether they approve of the direct participation of US troops
to fight the Abu Sayyaf, 52.73% of respondents said they disapproved, while
40.32% approved. However, in Metro Manila, 48.44% of the total 450 respondents
approved of the participation of US troops, while 42.67% disapproved.
Concerns have also been expressed within the Philippines government.
Senator Rodolfo Biazon, a former armed forces chief, argued, “All it will
take is one bullet fired by an American soldier that [kills] a civilian
... and the political stability of the country will be adversely affected.”
Sonny Melencio, chairperson of Socialist Party of Labour (SPP) told
Green Left Weekly that pickets and protests began in earnest as
soon as the Balikatan 2002 exercises were launched. At protests outside
the US Embassy in Manila, the main chants have been: “Peace and justice
now, stop the war in Mindanao!” and “US imperialism, number one terrorist!”
Daily pickets are being organised by a broad coalition, Peace Camp,
which includes the Freedom From Debt Coalition, Sanlakas, Task Force Bases
Clean Up, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, Sarilaya, Akbayan, SPP-BMP,
BISIG, Resource Centre for Peoples Development and a number of Muslim organisations
including Muslim umbrella group Maradeka. Also part of the Peace Camp is
the Labour against the War trade union coalition, which is led by left
trade union federation Solidarity of Filipino Workers (BMP).
Numerous actions for February are being prepared, including rallies
to coincide with the anniversary of the People's Power uprisings that overthrew
President Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and President Joseph Estrada in 2001.
Furthermore, Labour against the War will be demonstrating on February 6,
with the slogan “Justice for Popoy, Justice for All”, to mark the first
anniversary of the assassination of “Popoy” Lagman, BMP chairperson and
long-standing leader of the revolutionary movement in the Philippines.
Melencio identified two other “peace blocs” that are organising actions
throughout the country. One is the Gathering for Peace, which includes
senators and ex senators that oppose US intervention in Mindanao and the
Mutual Logistics Servicing Agreement (MLSA) which re-opens Philippines
bases for use by US forces. Many of these serving and former senators were
involved in the successful campaign to close the US bases in 1992.
The other is the Bayan bloc, composed predominantly of organisations
aligned with the Communist Party of the Philippines. Melencio said that
while Bayan has not yet agreed to be involved in any joint actions, the
Gathering for Peace and the Peace Camp are planning to stage a combined
mass mobilisation on International Women's Day (IWD) on March 8.
“The Peace Camp is also calling for IWD to be a regional day of action
against the US intervention into the Philippines”, Melencio told GLW.
“Our main demands are ‘US troops out now!' and ‘Reject the MLSA!'. We are
sending an appeal out and contacting all progressive groups in the Asian
region about this project.”
BMP is also calling for May 1 to be an international day of action against
the war.
“While the US and the Philippines government states that the Balikatan
2002 joint military operation is focused on Abu Sayyaf, the Peace Camp
believes the operation will be a lot broader”, Melencio explained. “The
reason that the US is sending troops to help the Philippines military is
that ‘war on terror' by the US is primarily aimed at the left. They want
to drive back the gains of the mass movements. So they have chosen Colombia,
where the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia is a powerful force, Palestine,
where the youth continue the intifada, and here in the Philippines, where
Washington wants to peg back the revolutionary forces.”
British, Canadian involvement
During the US troop build-up in Mindanao, Philippines President Gloria
Arroyo-Macapagal visited Britain, Canada and the US. In London, Arroyo
secured an agreement from British Prime Minister Tony Blair for Scotland
Yard to train the Philippines National Police to fight “terrorism” and
organised crime.
Blair also promised to campaign for more technical and financial assistance
to help fight poverty in Basilian and other areas in the Philippines.
In Canada, protesters from the local Philippines community and other
anti-war activists confronted Arroyo. The protests, organised by the Philippines
Women's Centre and the British Columbia Committee for Human Rights in the
Philippines, where held in Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver.
Arroyo and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien witnessed the signing
of five bilateral agreements in which Canada promised at least C$25 million
in official development assistance to the Philippines.
[Sonny Melencio will be a featured speaker at the Asia Pacific International
Solidarity Conference to be held in Sydney, March 29-April 1. Visit the
conference web site at < http://www.global-revolt.org>.]
From Green Left Weekly, February 6, 2002.
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