Fw: [FDC-e] Walden Bello Speech: Investigate recent developments in US-RP relations

[Princess Nemenzo]

Here's Walden's privilege speech on Phil.-U.S. relations. Sayang di natin nalaman agad, sana some of us could have been present. Now to wait for the inquiry or investigation by the House Committee on Foreign Relations. Will follow up. Cora/Anna,  OK na ba yung CD ng mga materials? We should prepare our potential allies in the Committee.

Princess

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Sabrina Gacad <sabrin...@yahoo.com>
To: Akbayan Forum <akbaya...@googlegroups.com>; FOA <friends_of_a...@googlegroups.com>; fdc e <FD...@yahoogroups.com>; WFA <Worldwide-Fil...@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, 8 February 2012 6:11 PM
Subject: [FDC-e] Walden Bello Speech: Investigate recent developments in US-RP relations

 

Mga kasama, 

Sharing with you Walden's speech against increasing US military presence in the Philippines. 

Cheers, 

Sabrina. 

Ensure Philippine sovereignty, investigate recent developments in US-RP relations

Privilege Speech of Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello

February 8, 2012

I would like to raise my concern over recent developments in US- Philippine relations that are reported in the newspapers.

Washington’s two-point agenda in the Philippines is no secret to most of us in Congress: to contain China’s ascent to power, and refocus its war on terror to South East Asia, which it has tagged as one of the training grounds of Islamic fundamentalism, especially as its sojourn in the Middle East expires. 

We in Congress should monitor the decisions that the administration is making. Talks between the Philippine government and their American counterparts are all over the news, but information about what is happening, and what is being agreed on are very rare to come by. In fact, just today, the Philippine Daily Inquirer echoed a February 3 report from Bloomberg that the US plans to “rotate” some 4,000 armed personnel through “Australia, Hawaii, Subic Bay and perhaps a smaller base in the Philippines,” leaving their activities here to speculation.

Many of us in Congress have no knowledge of the plans that the Department of Foreign Affairs discussing with the US. And while we don’t expect to have access to all the details, as the people’s representatives in government, Congress must gain an understanding of the over-all direction of these plans. We in Congress should monitor the decisions that our government is making and the plans with the US that we are executing, and we must be able to make positive contributions to such crucial decisions, especially in the face of growing disagreement with the People’s Republic of China over territories in the West Philippine Sea. 

We are alarmed by US President Barack Obama’s and Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s announcement that America will refocus its military build-up in the Asia-Pacific region, with particular interest in the West Philippine Sea. And as the government continues to provide room for American troops in our soil, we are forced to ask the question: Who is pushing whom? Or who is pulling whom into greater conflict?

The US compromises people’s interest in the West Philippine Sea

Dear colleagues, I would like to show you how the growing military alliance with the United States puts the Philippines in a very precarious situation. 

The Philippine claim to the Kalayaan Island Group, despite vehement protests from the People’s Republic of China and their unreasonable claim over the entirety of the Spratlys, has mobilized the whole population and captured the Filipino’s nationalist imagination. The people are very supportive of the government’s claim, and we are 100% behind the government in protection of our sovereignty. 

However, the DFA’s approach of resorting to the US alliance as the primary option in defending our sovereignty threatens our claim to territories in the West Philippine Sea and might set back our bid for independence and sovereignty from hegemonic powers. 

We are concerned that bringing the US as a solution of first resort will convert valid territorial disagreements into a super-power conflict. Already, news about US intervention into the China- South East Asia conflict prompted the right-wing Chinese Communist Party newspaper Global Times to demand that the Philippines be punished thru economic sanctions. The joint war games between US and Philippine troops in the West Philippine Sea planned for April will definitely fan the ultra-nationalist flames in China and exacerbate this problem. And in that event, territorial disagreements, and finding multilateral solutions to them, will be pushed to the margins.  

We should not follow the strategy of opposing a rising power with a declining hegemon. Even as we have criticized China for alarming statements which smack of hegemony, we have always said that the solution lies with our alliance with ASEAN countries and multilateral diplomacy rather than the use of force. Allow me to emphasize that what is needed is patient diplomacy, multilateral diplomacy. Only by engaging China through ASEAN will we be able to create a lasting solution. 

We have already proved that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLoS) is effective in developing a solution to the territorial disputes. We have redrawn our baselines, ensuring that geographical boundaries to our territory are in full compliance with international norms and treaties, all of which China refuses to recognize. Already we have successfully exposed China’s lack of willingness for multilateral negotiations over the Spratlys, and we have successfully claimed the moral high ground in our effort to resolve the territorial disputes diplomatically. Increased US presence in the region threatens to undo our achievements, and unfortunately for the Filipino people, this is the direction of the DFA’s policies. At the minimum, Congress must investigate America’s plans in the West Philippine Sea. 

As the people’s representatives, it is incumbent upon Congress to take decisive steps to prevent the degeneration of legitimate territorial conflicts to super-power confrontation. As the people’s representatives, and because the Spratly issues have revived the people’s strong sense of nationalism,  it is our duty to give people a voice in terms of charting the direction of policies with respect to the United States, China, and the Spratlys dispute.

Philippines as a pawn in the US anti-terror campaign

Likewise, Congress must look deeper into the continuation of the US-RP partnership against terrorism, especially in the south. Let us remember that the US’  War on Terror in the Middle East has run its course, and this is precisely the reason why they are zeroing in on South East Asia, and friendly governments like us, to continue their campaign. 

Was it really Philippine interest that we forwarded when the military launched a US-backed airstrike in Jolo a few days ago, or were we merely executing Jemaah Islamiyah and Al-Qaeda operatives so that Americans may sleep better at night? After all, the value of fringe benefits the Philippines stands to gain is worth nothing when it is Filipinos and peace in Mindanao that becomes collateral damage in this fight. 

US Ambassador Harry Thomas recently stated that Washington has spent USD 517M to upgrade Philippine military facilities. We ask: what facilities are those that have been upgraded? In this connection, it is important to investigate very alarming reports that a US facility is housed in one of the Philippine Military bases around Manila, and that this is being used for rendition of so-called terrorists to third countries. Let us not forget that the CIA’s rendition of people to third countries is universally condemned, and the Philippines must take steps against being used as a staging ground for such illegal practices.

We must also look into the report that the troops from Okinawa, Japan, will be “on rotation” in the Philippines. Let us remember that the people of Okinawa have been vehemently opposed to the US bases on their island, as Filipinos were when, due to broad public pressure, we successfully closed US military facilities in the early ‘90s. We must be wary of this creeping increase of US military activity in the Philippines, and we should investigate the role of renewed military bases in this plan. 

To address all these concerns and ensure that the Executive’s plan is transparent, and that it duly prioritizes Philippine sovereignty and the people’s interest over US attempt to maintain its hegemony, we have to critically assess the elements of this strategy to step up US Military presence on Philippine soil. As the people’s representatives, it is our duty to mount an investigation into this development in US -Philippine relationships. ###

 

Sabrina Laya S. Gacad
Senior Legislative and Media Officer
Office of Hon. WALDEN F. BELLO
AKBAYAN Party-list Representative
House of Representatives
Quezon City, Philippines

sabrin...@yahoo.com

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[Princess Nemenzo]

Sharing info.

 

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Herbert Docena <herber...@gmail.com>
To: stopthewar....@lists.riseup.net; Princess Nemenzo <anane...@yahoo.com>
Cc: Walden Bello <walde...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, 10 February 2012 1:49 AM
Subject: Re: [stopthewar.philippines] Fw: [FDC-e] Walden Bello Speech: Investigate recent developments in US-RP relations

Thanks Walden and Princess!

Here's an effort to help push the conversation forward:

The US Already Has a Base in the Philippines
Whether the Philippines should deepen its cooperation with the US over China is an important debate, but let us first get the facts straight

By Herbert Docena

 What kind of “visit” takes longer: one that’s permanent or one that’s indefinite?

 Ten years ago this month, US military personnel began arriving in the southwestern Philippines ostensibly to help hunt down “al Qaeda-linked” Abu Sayyaf fighters in what commentators and US officials billed the “second front” of the “war on terror.” It was the largest deployment of US troops since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and before the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

 To placate local critics and circumvent constitutional proscriptions, the US and Philippine governments then vigorously insisted that US troops would not be involved in “combat” and that their deployment would not be “permanent.”

Ten years hence, the “war on terror” is all but over: the US says it is withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2014 and it has been unceremoniously kicked out of Iraq. And yet, there is still no word about the future of the hundreds of US troops already deployed to the Philippines.
 
Indeed, instead of commemorating the ten-year anniversary of US troops in Mindanao and reviewing whether their continuing stay is still warranted, the US and Philippine governments are now again considering expanding their presence in the country while vigorously denying any plans of re-establishing any US bases in the country—as if they don’t already have one.
 
As we have meticulously documented in our reports, Unconventional Warfare and At the Door of all the  —using mainly publicly available US military documents, the US has effectively been constructing a base in the country over the last ten years—although one that is very different from the kind of bases they had in Subic and Clark.
 
This new base has five components.
 
The first is the establishment of what they call their “Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines” (JSOTF-P), headquartered in Zamboanga but operating all over Mindanao. It is interesting that in denying the construction of any new base, one US official recently denied only the construction of a “US-only base”: this is because the JSOTF-P base in Zamboanga is inside a Philippine military base, although even Filipino soldiers require US permission to enter the facility.
 
As confirmed most recently by a Washington Post investigative report, this JSOTF-P is part of a highly secretive elite military unit at the cutting-edge of the US’ ongoing efforts’ to radically transform its worldwide offensive capabilities: Special forces ready to swoop in anytime anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice to strike down America’s enemies.
 
The second is the establishment of the so-called “Cooperative Security Locations” (CSLs), a new category of bases that are either private or technically “owned” by host governments but are to be made available for use by the US military as needed. The Philippine government refuses to disclose where these CSLs are but in 2005, the US Overseas Basing Commission (OBC), the official commission tasked to review US basing, confirmed that the Philippines has them.
 
The third component is the continuous deployment of US troops to the country in the guise of “training” or other exercises. Since 1998, a steady stream of US troops have been arriving in the country for regular and recurring military exercises involving as many as 5,000 US troops. As many as over 30 exercises were scheduled annually during the past years.  US military strategists consider these training exercises as a way of securing on-again, off-again but continuous access to the country where they are training.

As former US Pacific Command head Thomas Fargo pointed out: “Access over time can develop into habitual use of certain facilities by deployed US forces with the eventual goal of being guaranteed use in a crisis, or permission to pre-position logistics stocks and other critical material in strategic forward locations.”

The fourth is the regular arrival of US military warships and their temporary but regular stationing in various ports all over the country—from Subic to Palawan, from Leyte to Tawi-Tawi. According to the US Congressional Budget Office “[T]he Navy counts those ships as providing overseas presence full time, even when they are training or simply tied up at the pier.”
 
The fifth component is full access: In 2001, the Philippine government gave the US military permission to fly over the country’s airspace, use its airfields and ports, and travel on its sea-lanes. And with the Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) signed in November 2002, the US was also allowed to store and pre-position equipment in the country, construct structures and be provided with the full range of logistics and operational services it requires during deployments—in short, access to the full range of services that the US military would require to operate in and from the country.
 
All together, these five components give the US everything—and arguably more—than it had in Subic and Clark. The dictionary defines a military base as “a place used as a center of operations by the armed forces or others.” It is any facility or set of facilities that allow a military to perform military activities and achieve military objectives. What all the five components enumerated above provide the US is just that, the facilities to perform and pursue its military objectives: to operate and deploy in and from the country anytime and to maintain a forward presence to deter enemies all the time—but without the economic and political costs of maintaining large garrison-like bases that can serve as visible symbols for the opposition.
 
As the former US official charged with transforming the US global basing strategy, Douglas J. Feith, explained: “Our goal is to be positioned to deal with uncertainty, with the right forces, the right relationships, the right authority and the ability to execute our missions within and across regions.” Whatever achieves that goal is what the US wants; what matters to it is the ability to deploy, not the physical structure. But the aim is the same: so US troops can operate wherever they please.

Whether the Philippines should help the US achieve that aim in light of the tension with China is an important debate, but let us at least start with the facts. The US already has a base here: the entire country.
 
But unlike the bases in Subic and Clark--which at least had an expiration date, the US and Philippine governments seem intent on keeping this new one here indefinitely.

Herbert Docena is a former researcher with Focus on the Global South, a policy research NGO.
 
Download our reports:

Unconventional Warfare: http://focusweb.org/philippines/publications/reports/563-unconventional-warfare-are-us-special-forces-engaged-in-an-offensive-war-in-the-philippines

At the Door of all the East: http://www.focusweb.org/node/1293