“It is only fitting that after 25 years since the historic US base treaty rejection, we now have a President who is seeking to implement an independent foreign policy,” said Renato Reyes, Jr. of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN).
BAYAN led a rally to the United States (US) Embassy on September 16, 25 years after the historic Senate vote to end US military presence in the Philippines.
The rally was in support of President Rodrigo Duterte’s critical statements against the US.
On September 16, 1991, after a series of gigantic protests against US bases, the Philippine Senate voted 12-11 against a new treaty that will allow US military another 10 years to hold base at Subic Bay Naval Station in Olongapo, Zambales. The naval station in Subic was US’ largest military installation outside its own country.
In the past few days, Duterte has issued several statements critical of the US, citing historical facts of US atrocities in the Philippines during the Philippine-American war.
Unexpected history lessons from Duterte
At a presscon before leaving for Laos on September 5, Duterte called on Obama to account and apologize for the ‘Bud Dajo Massacre’ in 1906 where around 1,000 Moro in Bud Dajo, Jolo were killed by American soldiers. This was a response to a question from a Reuters reporter on what the Philippine president would answer if he was asked by “Obama, for example, on human rights.”
“Who is he? When as a matter of fact at the turn of the century, before the Americans left, the Philippines, in the pacification campaign of the Moro in this island, there were around 6M ang population ng Moro, how many died? Six hundred. If you can answer this question and give an apology, I will answer him,” was Duterte’s fiery answer.
“The PH is not a vassal state, we have long ceased to be a colony of the US…I do not respond to anybody but to the people of the Republic of the Philippines. Wala akong pakialam sa kanya. Who is he to confront me, as a matter of fact, America has one too many to answer for the misdeeds in this country,” Duterte continued.
Duterte also presented the photo of the Bud Dajo massacre in his speech during the East Asia Forum on September 8, as part of the ASEAN Summit. He strayed from a prepared speech to show the photo and speak on the human rights issue. The meeting was attended by the 18-member nations, including Obama. While the meeting was off limits to media, three diplomats who spoke to reporters of the Agence France Presse relayed this event.
“This is my ancestor they killed. Why now we are talking about human rights,” Duterte was heard saying, referring to the photo.
At a speech at a Philippine Air Force event on September 13, Duterte also cited the killings in Balangiga, Eastern Samar in 1901 where thousands were killed, leaving only children who could not bear arms and leaving the town “a howling wilderness.” The American soldiers’ retaliated to an attack of Filipino guerillas that almost wiped out the US company that was stationed in Balangiga.
The Balangiga massacre was last brought up in 2013, when after Typhoon Yolanda (International name: Haiyan) hit, the US volunteered help and resent battleships USS Washington and USS Denver (similarly named with battleships that fought in the Battle of Leyte during the World War II). At that instance of déjà vu, residents of Balangiga called on the US to return the church bells they took from Balangiga.
Independent foreign policy
Arriving from a working visit in Indonesia on September 10, Duterte announced that he will pursue an independent foreign policy.
“We will observe and insist – I repeat, I insist – on the time honored principles of sovereign equality, non-interference and commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes to best serve our people and protect the interests of our country,” Duterte said during the arrival ceremony at the Davao International Airport.
During the Friday rally, Reyes expressed their groups’ support for the President’s pronouncement to push for an independent foreign policy.
Duterte also pronounced in his September 12 speech in Malacañang that the US Special Forces in Mindanao has to go.
“The US interest in Mindanao is not only for ‘security’ but also for their economic interest because of their large plantations and mining companies and their planned expansions,” said Aba.
Agricultural plantations geared for export covers 500,000 or 12% of Mindanao’s agricultural land. These plantations are owned by Trans-National Corporations (TNCs) like American-controlled Dole Philippines and Del Monte. Most crops planted in these plantations are rubber, pineapple, bananas, palm oil, cacao and sugarcane.
Meanwhile, according to Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) 7 out of 10 farmers remain landless in Mindanao.
“Sa unang pagkakataon, ang Presidente ng Pilipinas ay hindi tuta ng Amerika [For the first time, the President of the Philippines is not a puppet of the United States of America],” said Reyes.
Despite of the rejection of a new US base treaty in 1991, the subsequent administrations were able to enforce other agreements that allowed permanent US military presence in the Philippines without the need for a Senate-ratified treaty. Among these agreements are the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) and Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).
EDCA, the most recent agreement with the US signed under Benigno Aquino III’s administration, allows Philippine government assign bases where US troops and supplies can be stationed. In March, the US and Philippine government have already agreed to five locations: Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan, Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Mactan, and Lumbia Airport in Cagayan de Oro.
According to Jerome Succor Aba of Suara Bangsamoro, a Mindanao-based Moro organization, construction for the US base in Lumbia Airport is already in progress since June 2016. He said that the community surrounding the airport has already been evicted.
“It is time to cut the umbilical cord of the US-Philippines relations. President Duterte needs the support of the people for this,” said former Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo.
Ocampo concluded that it is time for the people to assert Philippine national sovereignty.
