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RP Held Hostage by US Foreign Policy on Terrorism

BY JUSTICE NOT WAR COALITION

The JUSTICE NOT WAR COALITION today (Sept. 28, 2001) assailed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s policy statements on combating terrorism, predicting that the “the so-called 14 pillars would crash down under the weight of a myriad of local problems including homegrown terrorism” that is reportedly backed by certain police and military officials.

“The Philippines is being held hostage by U.S. foreign policy to combat terrorism,” said Renato Reyes, Jr., convenor of the newly-formed Justice not War Coalition. “Arroyo has in fact surrendered to U.S. whims. But national sovereignty is not the only casualty here.”

Reyes said that the public should protest the policy that would regear “14 pillars” composed of major government agencies for patently militarist and pro-US objectives.

The coalition led rallies today in Manila, Angeles City and Cebu City to express opposition to the Philippine involvement in what it calls the “US-led war of retaliation and aggression”.

“There is no legal basis for the Philippines to allow the use of our facilities to support the war,” the coalition leader added. “The United Nations Resolution is not legally binding and should not be used as justification to plunge the country into a war where it stands to gain nothing. Allowing the U.S. to once again use the country into a military base is a reversal of the historical verdict of the people to revoke the US-RP Military Bases Agreement in 1991.”

The coalition is also outraged over the fact that the president is willing to pledge food supply, medicines and medical personnel for the war efforts of the U.S.

“This is totally uncalled for. Why is the president more concerned with offering logistical support for the war when our own people could hardly afford food, medicine and health care? She’s probably been watching too much CNN and has forgotten that the country has its own set of problems to confront,” lamented Reyes. “It has become laughable for the government to be concerned with chemical and biological warfare when it cannot even provide adequate health services for its people.”

According to Reyes, the 14 pillars of the Arroyo administration’s war on terrorism won’t solve the country’s problem with the terrorist group Abu Sayaff. “The president is dreaming if she thinks she can win the war with the Abu Sayaff based on such policy pronouncements. As long as the corrupt military institution is colluding with the terrorist group, there can be no immediate solution to the Abu Sayaff,” Reyes said. Bulatlat.com

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