Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 8 March 23 - 29, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
Police
Disperse Thousands of Anti-War Protesters in Manila, Baguio In
the Philippines and worldwide, U.S. embassies bore the brunt of protest marches
and rallies as millions of anti-war protesters took to the streets spontaneously
as the countdown began and U.S. warplanes began attacking Iraq. In the
Philippines, anti-war protesters in their tens of thousands took to the streets
with the U.S. Embassy the center of condemnation. But police dispersed many of
the protests with truncheons and water cannons even as SWAT teams were deployed
as well with armalites and machineguns cocked. By
Ronalyn Olea Anti-war
activists and groups in their tens of thousands opposed to the U.S. war in Iraq
took to the streets in Metro Manila, Baguio City, Cebu, Iloilo and other parts
of the country in the countdown to the invasion and as U.S. President George W.
Bush wasted no time ordering air strikes against Iraq at zero-hour. Since
March 18 (Manila time) when Bush announced a 48-hour ultimate to Saddam Hussein
and his sons to leave Baghdad or face American might, anti-war protesters
converged on the U.S. embassy in Manila and in other locations. Pickets and mass
rallies were launched not only to condemn the U.S. invasion which groups
coalesced under the Justice Not War Coalition said, was a war of aggression on a
small, helpless country. Transportation strikes and other forms of anti-war
protest were also held particularly in the provinces. As
expected, police in Manila were ready, with a contingent of Special Weapons and
Tactics (SWAT) armed with baby armalites and machineguns to block entry to the
U.S. embassy. They were ordered to disperse the protest rallies, resulting in a
mayhem. Robert
de Castro, deputy secretary general of Bayan Muna, said police officers refused
to negiotiate with the protesters in the first days of their anti-war protests
in Manila. On
March 18, protesters were blocked by anti-riot police at the corner of Kalaw
Avenue and Roxas
Boulevard. Using water cannons and truncheons, the police
injured several protesters, with one reportedly suffering fractured legs.
Four youth activists were brought to the nearby Philippine General
Hospital. The dispersal took place after protesters were able to throw red paint
on the embassy seal. On
the same day, about 200 peace advocates gathered in Baguio City in northern
Philippines to condemn Bush’s ultimatum to Saddam Hussein . Police under the
command of Col. Ernesto Gaab blocked the protest march, Dinteg spokesperson
Beverly Longid said. Pikit
militarization Protest
rallies led by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance)
were also held across Mindanao island in southern Philippines. The anti-war
rallies also condemned the recent Davao City bombing and the militarization of
Buliok Complex and Pikit, North Cotabato forcing more than 100,000 civilians to
evacuate. Then
on March 20, simultaneous prayer and protest assemblies were held at the St.
Peter's Church on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City; at Sta. Ana Church in
Manila; in Plaza Miranda in Manila; and along Ayala Avenue cor. Paseo de Roxas
in Makati City. Meanwhile,
transport workers in Cebu launched “preemptive transport strikes” against
what they called "a bloody war for oil and subsequent steep increases in
crude prices." Similar strikes were mounted in the entire island of Panay
for two days, March 19 and 20. "With
President Arroyo seemingly bent on supporting her master in Washington, it now
rests on our shoulders to assert our national interests and aspirations for
peace," said Renato Reyes, Bayan spokesperson. Sympathy
strikes The
New People’s Army (NPA), meanwhile, announced it will launch tactical strikes
in sympathy with the Iraqi people and against the U.S. invasion, based on a
statement read by Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) spokesperson Gregorio
“Ka Roger” Rosal. Following
the CPP announcement, NPA fighters raided on March 21 the armory of Picop in
Bislig City in Central Mindanao, seizing 92 rifles. Picop is a big paper
manufacturing plant. Digma Makabayan, spokesperson of the Ka Bob Ruiz Command,
said the arms confiscation is the NPA’s biggest haul since 1992.
Rosal
urged the peoples of the world to topple all governments supportive of U.S. war
of aggression. In
a separate reaction, Jose Maria Sison, chief political consultant of the
National Democratic Front (NDF), said the U.S. is undertaking a war of
aggression against Iraq not only to grab oil resources but also to justify
drastic increases in U.S. military spending and step up war production.
“The current ruling clique in the U.S., headed by Bush, believes that
wars and rising war production can solve the grave economic and financial crisis
of the U.S. and world capitalist system,” Sison said. GMA’s
support to the U.S. war President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo announced Thursday that the Philippines has joined U.S.
President Bush’s “coalition of the willing,” extending political and moral
support to the U.S. war in Iraq. Part of the commitment was allowing U.S.
military aircraft the use of the country’s air space and refuelling stations. No
Filipino troops will be deployed, she said, except for post-war peacekeeping and
reconstruction. On
Saturday, she went on the air to defend her government’s decision to support
the U.S. invasion of Iraq, saying it was a war between “good and evil” and
that it is meant to liberate the Iraqi people from Saddam Hussein’s tyranny. Illegality
of war and GMA’s support The
president’s pro-war stance was however opposed by at least 46 congressmen. In
a statement, the Legislators Again War (LAW) led by convenor and Bayan Muna
party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, condemned the unilateral military action of the
U.S. and urged Macapagal-Arroyo to desist from giving any form of support to
“such unilateral and illegal act.” They
also asked the president to explain to the public why her government joined the
so-called 45-nation “coalition of the willing and and clearly spell out the
“moral and political support” that her government has reportedly pledged to
the Bush administration. House
Resolution No.1079 initiated by LAW stated that the war is inconsistent with the
stated principles of the 1987 Philippine Constitution which “renounces war as
an instrument of national policy, adopts the general principles of international
law as part of the law of the land and adheres to the policy of peace, equality,
justice, freedom, cooperation and amity with all nations.” In
another statement, a group of lawyers said the “invasion of
Iraq by the U.S. armed forces is a war for the domination of the world,
for the subjection of the national sovereignty, political independence,
territorial integrity, and economic resources of states to the imperial
prerogatives of the lone superpower.” The
group, Public Interest Law Center (PILC), said “there is absolutely no
justification under international law for the US invasion of Iraq.” The group,
headed by UN ad litem judge Romeo Capulong, also reminded the government that
under the UN Charter all states are under obligation not to use force or to
threaten another state with force.
The "use and threat of force" and "acts of
aggression" are considered not only illegal, but a negation of the very
rationale of the UN system.
Citing
Article 5 in relation to Article 3 (f) of the G.A. Resolution 3314, the PILC
lawyers said the Macapagal-Arroyo government and all other governments that
support the U.S. invasion of Iraq incur international
responsibility and are criminals under international law.
Leaders
and followers alike, from states-parties to the statutes of the International
Criminal Court (ICC), including the United Kingdom, Spain, Bulgaria and
Australia, are inviting indictments before the ICC whose jurisdiction extends to
the overlapping crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and
aggression, they added. OFWs
in peril Labor
and migrant groups also disputed the claim by Macapagal-Arroyo that the 1.5
million overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East are safe.
The Executive Council of the Riyadh OFW Congress in Saudi Arabia, for
instance, expressed apprehension on the preparedness of the government to assist
the OFWs. A
recent survey conducted by the Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants (APMM) also
showed that less than 50 percent of 400 OFWs interviewed are aware of such
contingency plans. The survey was conducted among migrant Filipinos in Israel,
Kuwait, and in Riyadh and Eastern Province in Saudi Arabia. Ramon
Bultron, APMM managing director, said that
"still more glaring is that 58 percent of our OFWs in the said areas
have expressed their dissatisfaction over the said (contingency) plan (of
government)." Bultron
also revealed that 70 percent of the respondents disapproved of the U.S. war and
Macapagal-Arroyo’s support to Bush. Overseas
protests Scenes of protest in various parts of the globe Outside
the Philippines, powerful protests against the war broke out in several cities
in North America, Europe, South America, Africa and Asia-Pacific. According
to the International ANSWER coalition and other sources, more than a million
protesters around the world demonstrated on March 20 against the U.S. war with
Iraq. Similar rallies were being held at presstime. In
San Francisco, more than 1,000 people were arrested as tens of thousands
protested across America against the U.S. war in Iraq. In New York, which bore
the brunt of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, "September 11th Families for
Peaceful Tomorrows" also condemned what they called an “illegal and
immoral U.S. war.” Anti-war
demonstrators outnumbered police during rush hour in Times Square, completely
shutting Broadway. Joining the rallies were students across the nation,
including at Harvard University, where hundreds walked out of classes at noon.
At the University of California's Berkeley campus, a hotbed of dissent against
the Vietnam War in the 1960s and early 1970s, students occupied the main administration building for several hours where 120 of them were arrested. Protests
were also held in Florida, Minnesota, Iowa and Maine. In
Sydney, Australia, almost 20,000 people still managed to gather even with only
three hours notice. The rally was led by the Walk Against War Coalition (WAWC),
people of all ages arrived with placards, children and even imitation gas masks
in tow. Meanwhile,
about 20, 000 gathered in Melbourne led by Australian actors Heath Ledger, Naomi
Watts and Joel Edgerton chanting "George Bush go to hell, we won't fight a
war for Shell," some 3,000 in Brisbane's King George Square, and more than
1,500 in front of U.S. embassy in Canberra. In
London, thousands of British anti-war protesters blocked roads and scuffled with
police. In France, some 10,000 people, mostly students, rushed through Paris
chanting anti-war slogans while burning the U.S. flag. In
Cairo, Egypt, riot police used water cannons on about 5,000 demonstrators
hurling stones and metal barricades preventing them from reaching the U.S.
Embassy. Same
in
Germany, more than 100,000 protesters, mostly students, marched to the U.S.
Embassy in Athens, Greece, while chanting ``No to the war'' and ``Americans,
killers of people.'' Demonstrators marched to the U.S. Consulate in the northern
Greek port of Thessaloniki, while others rallied outside the British Consulate
in the western port of Patras. About
45,000 students and labor union members joined the protests in several Italian
cities. Other anti-war demonstrators were marching up Via Veneto toward the U.S.
Embassy when blocked by police. Others paralyzed highways and train tracks after
a two-hour nationwide general strike was called in the late afternoon. In
Dhaka, Bangladesh, more than 15,000 joined the protest while chanting anti-U.S.
slogans. Leftist forces joined hands with Islamic demonstrators in burning
American and British flags. In
Japan, demonstrators gathered at the U.S. embassies and consulate in different
cities. Over 1,000 people surrounded the building of the U.S. consulate in Osaka
were also harassed by the police. Thousands more turned out in Madrid, Calcutta, Buenos Aires, Yemen, Frankfurt, Moscow, Turkey, Amman, Cyprus, Lansing, MI; Columbus OH, Lexington, KY, Tucson, AZ; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Beirut, many Palestinian cities and refugee camps, Bangkok, Seoul, Toronto,Vancouver, Moscow and many other cities and countries. With Aubrey SC Makilan / Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
|
|