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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 37 October 19 - 25, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume 3, Number 37 October 19 - 25, 2003 Quezon City, Philippines |
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Warm Welcome for Bush in Chilly Baguio Hundreds of men and women from all over the Cordillera staged a die-in and a march/rally along the main thoroughfares of Baguio City, capping week-long protests against the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush. BY
AUDREY MARY BELTRAN and ABIGAIL BENGWAYAN
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Ifugao warrior aims his spear at Bush aka Captain America PHOTO BY ACE ALEGRE |
BAGUIO
CITY— Hundreds of men and women from all over the Cordillera staged a die-in
and a march/rally along the main thoroughfares of the city, capping a week-long
protests against the visit of U.S. President George W. Bush. According
to the Cordillera People’s Alliance (CPA) and the Tongtongan ti Umili (TTU),
the U.S. agenda in the Philippines are “bilateral free trade agreements,
greater US intervention in Mindanao, approval in details and terms of reference
for the next Balikatan exercises and lastly, operationalization of the RP-US
Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) and the RP-US Non-Surrender
Agreement.” |
These,
they said, make Bush the “harbinger of war and death to the people.”
The
policies, which will allegedly only result in the worsening plunder of resources
in the Cordillera through development aggression and heightened U.S. atrocities
in the country, were strongly condemned by CPA and TTU.
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Voltaire Tupaz, secretary general of Tongtongan ti Umili, said, “We should remember the long history of exploitation that the US committed against the Filipino people. Today, we must hold it accountable for the offenses of imperialism in our country – for the deaths of millions of Filipinos in the Fil-Am war, for the toxic wastes they have left in their former military bases, for the crimes they have committed against women and children and for the unjust economic policies they have rammed down our throats as a neo-colony.” The
Baguio militants also said that the Bush visit, supposedly aimed at
“strengthening security arrangements against terrorism,” will only |
Tongtongan leader Voltaire Tupaz in Baguio rally
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rationalize the deployment of more military forces in the countryside.
During
the protest, peasant leaders from Kalinga also scored the heavy deployment of
military and police in the province stating that there were more crimes, rape
and killings because of the presence of the state-owned armed forces.
The
militants also warned the president against subverting and backtracking from the
Philippine position in the recently concluded WTO Ministerial Conference in
Cancun, Mexico. The Cancun meeting
collapsed because of the worldwide protests and the steadfast position of G-21
not to negotiate on any agriculture agreement and other unjust trade issues.
Anti-Bush
rallyists (above left) stage die-in along Session Road, schoolchildren do their
own protest song (above, right) and Cordillera activists beat their gansa
(native gongs) while marching (left photo). PHOTOS BY
AUDREY MARY BELTRAN and ABIGAIL BENGWAYAN
Tupaz stated that “President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is known for her proclivity to break vows. She might not withstand the pressure of Bush and forget the impoverished peasants in the course of their merry-making in Malacañang.”
CPA
and TTU vowed to vigorously oppose any bilateral agreement that will attempt to
expand free trade especially in agriculture. They said a bilateral free trade
agreement on agriculture will further ravage the vegetable industry and other
agricultural sub-sectors in the region, affecting about 150,000 peasant
households.
The protest ended with a war dance against U.S. imperialism to the beat of the heavy rain and the people’s raging gongs. Bulatlat.com
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