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GMA
Asked to Resign, Apply as Bush’s Spokesperson
Armed
Left to launch ‘sympathy attacks’ if U.S. strikes Iraq
As
militant organizations in the Philippines gear for a day-long and nationwide
indignation rally on Feb. 14 against the U.S. war on Iraq, anti-war activist
leaders have asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down and serve
instead as
U.S. President George W. Bush’s spokesperson.
By
Gerry Albert Corpuz
Bulatlat.com
Anti-U.S. war activists last week asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to
step down from office and apply as spokesperson of U.S. President George W. Bush
or British Prime Minister Tony Blair following the president's endorsement of
the U.S. war against Iraq.
The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan-New Patriotic Alliance) over the weekend
said the President is hopelessly devoted to the hawks in the Bush government.
Macapagal-Arroyo is the only world leader who took Colin Powell's testimony to
the UN Security Council hook, line and sinker, the group said.
Bayan secretary general Teddy Casiño said "Most likely, (Macapagal-Arroyo)
also thinks like her idol Bush that 'the game is over and war should
begin." The President event went so far as to tour the Middle East
parroting the very same wild ideas from Bush and Blair, he said.
Casiño said the so-called war coalition against Iraq is only composed of Bush,
Blair and Macapagal-Arroyo. "For the record, it is only Bush, Blair and
Macapagal-Arroyo who are trying to convince the whole world that war should be
unleashed against Iraq. Not even Iraq's neighbors have spoken ill of that
country," he said.
The young Bayan leader said that while majority of the Security Council and most
world leaders were unimpressed by Powell's disclosures, the Philippine president
had distinguished herself for her hysterical puppetry to the Bush government.
Sympathy attacks
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) through its armed
component New People's Army (NPA) in a statement drawn from the CPP website said
it would launch tactical offensives against legitimate targets if Macapagal-Arroyo
supports the U.S. war against Iraq.
CPP spokesperson Gregorio ' Ka Roger" Rosal said the people’s army is
ready to launch sympathy strikes through tactical offensives against government
armed forces and police.
Rosal assailed what he called Macapagal-Arroyo's “brazen puppetry to the
U.S.” He said the chief executive of the “puppet government” has
unabashedly supported U.S. President George w. Bush' jingoism on Iraq.
He also denounced government's offer to the U.S. for its use of the country's
airspace, airports and seaports for military operations against Iraq. The CPP
spokesperson said this would drag the Philippines into the unjust war against
the Iraqi people.
Rosal said President Arroyo will go down in history as one of the most
sycophantic presidents the Philippines has ever had.
Feb. 14 protest
Organizers of the “Jan. 31 Stand for Peace: National Day of Prayer Against the
U.S. War on Iraq” led by Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and anti-U.S.
war groups led by Bayan, party list Bayan Muna (People First), national alliance
of grassroots organizations' Anakpawis, International League of Peoples'
Struggle (ILPS) and Justice Not War Coalition will lead another nationwide big
protest action on Feb. 14 against U.S. war on Iraq.
The protest action on Valentines Day is the Philippine's counterpart to the
global action against US war on Iraq on Feb. 15, organizers said.
Rita Baua, ILPS-Philippines secretary general, said the demonstration in Manila
on Feb. 14 will showcase the Filipino people's strong resistance against the
U.S. war on Iraq and their collective sentiment for a just and lasting peace.
"This is to show that Mrs. Arroyo and her bunch of militarist officials are
the only people in this country who speak in favor of the U.S. war of aggression
against Iraq. The great majority definitely are against the U.S. war project in
Iraq and in the Middle East," Baua said.
Baua
said ILPS chapters in Europe, U.S. and Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia will also
join the global action in the war of resistance against U.S. aggression on Iraq
on Feb. 15. "Bush, Blair and Mrs. Arroyo's days are numbered. This war on
Iraq will end their respective political careers," she said.
Www.peace
Meanwhile, women church leaders, legislators, artists, mothers, youth and
students and community leaders launched www.peace coalition against U.S. war on
Iraq. In a unity statement, the coalition expressed concern over the fate of 1.4
million Filipinos in the Middle East expected to be displaced in the event of
war.
"We cannot help but agonize over what lies ahead of our sisters and their
children directly bear the brunt of the U.S.-led war," the statement read.
The group said "war multiplies the vulnerability of women and children to
rape and sexual abuse."
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Liza Maza said the war that looms imperils
innumerable lives. "Its far-reaching impact will be felt not just in the
Middle East but even in our own country. Women are compelled to take a
stand," she said.
Multi-awarded actress Gina Alajar, stage veteran Monique Wilson, scriptwriter
Bibeth Orteza, comedy actress Malou de Guzman and singer Leah Navarro were named
as convenors of the anti-U.S. war coalition.
Ms. Maza said six women members of the House - Reps. Cynthia Villar (Las Piñas),
Josefina Joson (Nueva Ecija), Faysah Dumarpa (Lanao del Sur), Glenda Ecleo (Surigao
del Norte), Cora Malanyaon (Davao
Oriental) and Lorna Silverio (Bulacan) have signed the manifesto against the
U.S. war on Iraq.
RP as frontline state
Meanwhile, Anakpawis, a militant alliance of workers, farmers, fisherfolk, youth
and student groups in the country denounced the U.S. latest categorization of
the Philippines as a frontline state.
In an interview with Bulatlat.com, Anakpawis chairperson and peasant leader
Rafael Mariano said the country's new billing, as frontline state will
automatically turn the Philippines into the U.S. new launching pad in its war
against Iraq and probably North Korea this year.
"The logical turn of events is pointing to that direction," Mariano
said. He pointed out that the Philippines is one of the 25 countries named by
the U.S. military as active supporter of Bush’s “borderless war” against
terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
He said Washington will avail of access rights and will tap the Philippines for
transit point and post-U.S. war operations in Iraq.
"Washington is fixing the country's role in U.S. current and future wars of
aggression. It is dangling again the $100 million in military aid promised by
U.S. State Department to Mrs. Arroyo during her visit to Washington in 2001 to
acquire access to Philippine ports and airspace for its military campaign in
2003," Mariano said.
The U.S. state department said it will restore the $100 million military
assistance to the Philippines in the form of military training and surplus
defense articles like C-130s, Hueys, patrol boats and protective vests.
Last week, US Army Chief of Staff Eric Shinkesi and President Arroyo met in
Malacañang but Palace and military officials were quick to deny speculations
that the two discussed the country's role in U.S.-Iraq conflict. Bulatlat.com
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