‘Go Home!’- Filipinos in U.S., Canada Tell
American Troops in Philippines

In Filipino communities in the United States and Canada, the movement for the withdrawal of U.S. forces in the Philippines is growing, this week’s reports said. The Arroyo administration has also been denounced for supporting Bush’s ‘war on terrorism’ and for human rights violations.

By BULATLAT.COM

SAN FRANCISCO, USA - About 350 delegates representing over 60 organizations from two countries gathered on July 6-7 to discuss the impact of U.S. troops in the Philippines and of Bush's "war against terrorism" on Filipinos in North America. 

Conference organizers stated, "This occasion marks a significant advance of the global people's movement to defraud the U.S. and Philippine governments' propaganda. The movement shows a growing sentiment that U.S. troops are not welcome in the Philippines. Nor are they welcome anywhere that the U.S. military is meddling in national sovereign territory."

Reporting 57 cases of recent human rights violations, increasing prostitution, nuclear dumping, civilian strafings, and violations of Philippine sovereignty, Filipinos and allies across the U.S. and Canada joined in calling for U.S. troops to leave the Philippines immediately. 

The bi-national Conference Steering Committee and convening organizations mobilized groups and persons from their home cities of New York, Chicago, Seattle, Washington D.C., Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal and others. Those who attended were a diverse group of people, from babies to elders and from all sectors including workers, students, women, and teachers.

The conference passed several action resolutions to which the hundreds of delegates committed to implement in their own cities. Among the resolutions are political lobbying directed at the U.S. government and an emphasis on community education in churches, schools, neighborhoods, civil and human rights groups, traditional Filipino organizations and civic clubs.

"We know the truth of why the U.S. has deployed military troops in the Philippines,” conference organizers said. “It's not to fight terrorism. It's to establish a strategic military stronghold in the Asia Pacific region to increase super-profits, use cheap labor, and exploit natural resources. Not only has the deployment of U.S. troops gone well outside the areas where the kidnap-for-ransom gang Abu Sayaff is located...the U.S. troops lay silent on human rights abuses committed by the Arroyo regime's Philippine military and police against civilians… We can see the truth of what's happening behind the propaganda dished out by the Arroyo government’s media con-artists."

The international conference was graced by the presence of Philippine Congressperson Liza Maza of the BAYAN-MUNA party-list. She congratulated her compatriots in North America for voicing a crucial opinion coming from Filipinos who live in North America. She also welcomed the support of other American and Canadian allies for standing in solidarity with millions of Filipinos of BAYAN-MUNA's constituency who want U.S. troops out. 

Deportation of 63 Filipinos

Representative Maza and conference delegates also denounced the recent deportation and chaining of 63 Filipinos from the United States to the Philippines. 

"Filipinos in the U.S. are being treated and categorized as terrorists, which they are not," said conference organizers, who also pointed out the attack on the dignity of all Filipinos when President Bush signed a law requiring all airport screeners in the United States to be American citizens in order to hold airport screener position. The law will lead to the mass lay-off of almost 1,000 Filipino airport screeners across the United States, they warned.

The conference addressed the common concern that civil liberties are also under attack in North America. Among the concerns are U.S. military tribunals and sweeping powers of the U.S. Attorney General's office to declare and categorize individuals and organizations from any country to be terrorist threats to national security through "association" and by secret evidence. 

Conference organizers said, "We are demanding peace, a peace that isn't a cover-up for the suppression of peoples’ voices who are standing up against U.S.-sponsored exploitation, oppression and annihilation of peoples around the world.  We condemn violence and aggression that is perpetuated by the current system which also means protesting the actions of the U.S. government itself."

The conference ended with a solidarity night with performances by Bay Area and Los Angeles delegates. The affair was attended by around 200 people, including families with babies and elders from throughout the country. There was, according to some participants, a special inter-generational energy and a strong international spirit of cultural resistance that was an inspiration to all. 

The following day (Sunday), a mock Philippine-American 'friendship' rally was held. The rally was attended by over 200 people dressed in colorful political shirts and carrying bright flags and banners saying, "Link Arms, Raise Fists, U.S. Troops Out Now" and "Friends don't pimp friends." The march-rally was staged from the Veteran's Equity Center in San Francisco, through Union Square, and ended at Powell and Market streets with a series of speakers declaring the injustices of U.S. military presence in the Philippines in relation to the larger U.S. war on terror.

Vancouver, Canada

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, Canada members of Grassroots Women, a Vancouver-based organization committed to struggling on the issues and concerns of poor women, this week condemned the brutal and politically-motivated military attacks against women members of GABRIELA-Philippines and called on women to participate in an international conference on the issue of war and militarisation.

"This extreme form of political repression is horrific," said Rachel Rosen, member of Grassroots Women. "The increasingly fascist rule of Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo - which is backed by the presence of almost 4,000 American troops - must be condemned. We call on other progressive organizations and individuals, as well as the Canadian government, to take a stand against this violence and subjugation."

The release of a "national policy" by the Arroyo government legitimizes the suppression of human rights including the torture, disappearance, and murder of members of people's organizations in the Philippines, including GABRIELA, a national alliance of 250 militant women's organizations, the group said.

Recent reports by GABRIELA document the increase in the number of cases of sexual harassment including rape of women and children by government troops in the Philippines. In one incident, Milagros Belga, a GABRIELA member, was shot in front of her four children by Philippine Army and paramilitary forces. In another, government troops wearing black bonnets dragged GABRIELA member Manuela Abarillo and her husband from their home and were shot repeatedly at close range.

"This is no more than an attempt to scare the Filipino people into accepting foreign military intervention and policies of globalization that cause our displacement and forced migration," said Monica Urrutia of Grassroots Women. "Now more than ever we must continue to educate, organize, and mobilize against the increasing suppression of people's democratic rights under the banner of imperialism.”

In November this year, GABRIELA-Philippines and Grassroots Women will host “Towards Our Liberation,” an international women's conference against imperialist war and plunder in Vancouver, Canada. Organized under the auspices of the International League of People's Struggles (ILPS), the conference will address the themes of wars of aggression, imperialist globalization, fundamentalism and role of women in the struggle for national and social liberation. Bulatlat.com

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