KARL MARX TUESDAYS

PHILIPPINE SOCIETY AND THE REVOLUTION AGAINST THE PHILIPPINE DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT

By: Comrade Mark Cua

THE BASIC PROBLEMS OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE

II. U.S. imperialism

2. Bogus Independence and the Unequal Treaties

US imperialism did grant œindependenceâ € â € ?? to the Philippines. But the Philippine Constitution came into full operation without any expressed prohibition against imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism. On the very day that this bogus independence was granted, the puppet president signed the US-RP Treaty of General Relations which recognized the perpetuation of US property rights and the US military bases in the Philippines. A furious struggle concerning the Bell Trade Act and the Parity Amendment ensued and exploded into a civil war. Not satisfied with what is already a colonial puppet provision in the Philippine constitution allowing 40 per cent foreign equity in corporations exploiting natural resources and public utilities operating in the Philippines, US imperialism dictated the Philippine puppet government on the amendment of the colonial constitution so as to allow US investors to continue controlling such corporations without any restriction of equity. This amendment, known as the Parity Amendment, aggravated what had already been an inequitous situation where the constitution allows US investors including other foreigners, to control local businesses and corporations to whatever extent as they please in extensive fields outside the flimsy restrictions made by Article XIII and Section 8 of Article XIV. The constitution thus became a senseless scrap of paper completely contradicting the principle of national sovereignty and national patrimony so hypocritically avows it. The Parity Amendment was dictated by the Bell Trade Act which comprehensively laid down the continuance of the economic enslavement of the Filipino people by US imperialism. Aside from imposing the Parity Amendment, the Bell Trade Act extended the period of free trade and spelled out the subordination of the Philippine peso to the US dollar.

Until today, there is a set of unequal treaties and arrangements reflecting the undiminished control of the Philippines by US imperialism. These are the shackles on which the nation are known as â € œspecial relations.â € ?? Let us make a review of them.

a. The Laurel-Langley Agreement (Revised Bell Trade Act), 1954. This reflects the economic vassalage of the Philippines to US imperialism. It does not only reiterate the Parity Amendment unconstitutionally but it also extends its meaning to include œparity Rights € â € ?? in all kinds of businesses, including the acquisition and utilization of private agricultural lands. The revised tariff schedule and the quota system still basically encourage the export of raw materials to the United States and the imports of finished products from the United States. While in this agreement the United States formally relinquishes control over the Philippine monetary system, the entire Philippine economic reality is such that it is extremely dependent on foreign loans, that the US firms in the Philippines can convert their huge earnings pesos into US dollars and that all export-import transactions are in terms of US dollars. Because of the actual colonial control of the economy by US imperialism, the peso sinks the moment that the Central Bank does not have enough US dollars. A mere euphemism in legal verbiage does not change a material fact to its opposite.

b. The U.S.-R.P. Military Bases Agreement, 1947. Under this agreement, US imperialism retains its control over the entire Philippine territory. The Filipino people are literally in a prison surrounded by large US strategically located land, air and naval bases. The U.S. Air Force hovers above them. The US Navy patrols Philippine waters as it pleases. As of 1969, apart from those in transit to or from the Vietnam War, at least 50,000 US troops were reported to be stationed on US military bases. As of now, US imperialism has more than 20 military bases occupying close to 200,000 hectares.11 On these bases, US military personnel enjoy extraterritorial rights. Off these bases, they are also beyond the jurisdiction of the puppet government by simply claiming to be â € œon a specific military duty.â € ?? The US military can commit crimes against the people and ignore any subpoena from the puppet government. Under the U.S.-R.P. Military Bases Agreement, the US military bases could even be expanded as US imperialism may deem necessary. At any rate, the present US military bases are large enough and contain enough troops to prove that US imperialism holds the Philippines by armed force. These US military bases are grounds for launching aggression against the Asian peoples. These bases contain nuclear, chemical and bacteriological weapons of genocide.

c. The U.S.-R.P. Military Assistance Pact, 1947. This unequal treaty ensures further US imperialist control over the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Through the Joint US Military Advisory Group (JUSMAG), US imperialism extends strategic direction and staff, logistics, training and intelligence coordination to the reactionary Armed Forces of the Philippines. US military advisers exercise direct control over the AFP Most of the military equipment and facilities of the AFP are granted on a loan basis by the JUSMAG. Within the reactionary armed forces, puppetry to US imperialism is thoroughly built in. Under a Counterinsurgency program, the reactionary armed forces are continually goaded to attack and abuse the revolutionary masses on behalf of US imperialism and the local exploiting classes. The JUSMAG is actually the mastermind behind the creation of such units as the murder œMonkees â €, â € ?? SDU, Home Defense Forces, â € œspecial forces, â € ?? and the like. US military personnel in the JUSMAG are conspicuously present in campaigns of â € œencirclement and suppressionâ € ?? against the people, the Party and the peopleâ € ™ s army.

d. Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, 1951. Under this agreement, the US government makes the pretext of extending economic and technical programs of assistance to the Philippine puppet government. US advisers are planted in every strategic branch of the puppet government to direct and influence policies, conduct imperialist propaganda, economic and political gather intelligence and see to it that â € œaidâ € ?? results in quick profits for private US firms on foreign loans, grants and peso counterpart funds through huge purchases of US commodities and through excessive payments for US contractors and experts. Agents of the A.I.D. (And its predecessor agencies) have been characteristically agents of US monopolies and even of the US Central Intelligence Agency. Under the A.I.D. Office of Public Safety and direct its local agent, the Police Commission, local police forces are equipped and trained to attack and disperse patriotic mass actions against US imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. The A.I.D. is actually the mastermind behind the creation of â € œanti-riot squads, â € ?? œrondas â €, â € ?? and â € œprovincial strike Armed € ?? and the like.

e. The U.S.-R.P. Mutual Defense Pact, 1951. This unequal treaty allows the United States to use its aggressor troops to interfere in the internal affairs of the Philippines under the pretext of securing œpeaceâ € â € ?? and â € œmutual security.â € ?? It is a redundant piece of imperialist document because there are already ample provisions in the basic military treaties on US military bases and military assistance allowing US imperialism to conduct aggression against the Filipino people at its whim. It is nonsensical for some reactionaries to beg US imperialism to include an â € œautomatic retaliationâ € ?? clause in this treaty. Whenever its own selfish interests face extinction, US imperialism never hesitates to launch aggression against the people as in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Cuba and so many others.

f. The Manila Pact, 1954. This treaty created in Manila the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) for the â € œregional defenseâ € ?? of Southeast Asia. It includes two puppet governments of US imperialism in Southeast Asia: namely, the Philippines and Thailand. It is dominated by imperialist powers headed by the United States. Under this treaty, US imperialism can bring along the Philippines to its wars of aggression in Southeast Asia. Conversely, US imperialism can bring along other puppet governments to conduct subversion and aggression against the Filipino people. It has been proven in the Korean War and the Vietnam War in that with or without direct reference to a specific regional defense treaty, US imperialism can easily command the Philippine reactionary to dispatch Filipino mercenary troops abroad.

g. The Agricultural Commodities Agreements. These are governed by US Public Law 480, otherwise known as the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act. Through these agreements, the United States disposes of its surplus agricultural products by dumping them on the Philippines. These are utilized to keep under control certain œintermediateâ € â € ?? industries like flour and textile mills which depend on imported raw materials. These are also used to manipulate local agricultural production to serve the policies of US imperialism. The proceeds from the sale of these agricultural products have been used to support propaganda campaigns and educational exchange programs administered by the US Embassy in Manila. Previously, the sale of US war surplus materials in the main had supported these programs to poison the thinking of key elements among the Filipino intelligentsia.

h. Agreements Pertaining to Culture and Education. Governmental agencies like the US AID, the US Educational Board, the Peace Corps and foundations like Asia Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation and Ford Foundation have a decisive say in the cultural and educational system. Exchange programs for various sectors and travel, study and research grants are used to glorify the â € œAmerican way of lifeâ € ?? and propagate anti-national and anti-democratic ideas. The special educational fund drawn from the remaining war damage payments has been set aside to reinforce US imperialist control over the Philippine educational system. In extending certain loans to the University of the Philippines, the World Bank has been used by US imperialism to help keep pro-imperialist educational policies.12 Such a sinister agency as the CIA directly or through œcoverâ € â € ?? institutions Filipino recruits agents in the educational system and mass media. Cultural and educational institutions are being increasingly used for intelligence and research Counterinsurgency. Since US monopoly firms are the biggest advertisers, they are in a position to dictate on the local mass media and to influence the political thinking of a great number of people. Reading materials, the radio and audio-visual entertainment such as Hollywood and TV films are systematically used to corrode the patriotic and progressive spirit of the people. Certain reformist and religious organizations are also subsidized by various imperialist institutions to spread ideological confusion. New and old sinister arrangements are too many and diverse for us to exhaustively relate here.

All US expenditures in connection with the above unequal treaties and arrangements are categorized as â € œaidâ € ?? to the Philippine puppet government. In one accounting, it is claimed that US imperialism extended œaidâ € â € ?? to the tune of $ 1.9 billion during the period of 1946-67. This œaidâ € â € ?? is supposed to comprise military assistance, non-military loans, war damage rehabilitation and such loans and grants that include expenditures for the US Peace Corps and fellowship grants.

Military assistance amounted to $ 512.4 million and it included the proceeds in the disposal of World War II and Korean War military surplus, the cost in the lease of military equipment, compensation for US military advisers and Filipino mercenaries in the Korean War and the Vietnam War, support for the suppression of the revolutionary mass movement and further training of the AFP in defending US imperialist, comprador, feudal and bureaucrat interests. The non-military loans amounted to S375.5 million and were used mainly for US propaganda activities under the â € œFood for Peaceâ € ?? program and the A.I.D. (And its predecessor agencies) and for supporting the dollar reserves of the Central Bank under the Export-Import Bank. War damage rehabilitation amounted to $ 473 million and was extended mainly to US firms, religious organizations, the bureaucrat capitalists and the local exploiting classes. The other loans and grants amounted to $ 352.2 million and were used mainly for supporting US advisers and missions, for training a few Filipinos in puppetry through fellowship grants, for conducting a wide range of Counterinsurgency activities under the guise of economic and technical assistance and services for agricultural development, for supporting the Peace Corps and for purchasing US commodities at an overprice through the AID U.S. and other organizations. Even the propaganda activities of the US Information Agency and the Voice of America are considered â € œaid.â € ??

The operations of the A.I.D. and its predecessor agencies expose the utter chicanery in American â € œaid.â € ?? During the period of 1951-68, the A.I.D. and its predecessor agencies made a grant of $ 54.1 million to the Philippine reactionary government. The latter was required to put up a peso counterpart fund amounting to almost P500 million during the same period. The American advisers and experts dictated the use not only of their meager dollar grant but also of the huge peso counterpart fund. They overpriced the commodities that they ordered exclusively from the United States, overcompensated for their services themselves as US propagandists and sales agents, gathered important data from the country, further influenced the local bureaucracy to stick to its puppetry, trained police officers and key agencies in Counterinsurgency 13 and publicized the lie that the US government is altruistic.

In the Philippines, semicolony or enemy colony dominated by US imperialism, there is the â € œcountry Team € ?? that coordinates and oversees the various agencies of US imperialism. It is composed of the US ambassador as head and the CIA chief of station, U.S.I.A. director, U.S.A.I.D. director and the chief JUSMAG as members.

In addition to its direct agencies, US imperialism manipulates various agencies of the United Nations, regional arrangements and Philippine bilateral arrangements with third countries. These supplement the direct agencies of US imperialism in subverting the national-democratic interests of the Filipino people.