Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Hidden Article

This posting has been hidden because it breaches the Indymedia UK (IMC UK) Editorial Guidelines.

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for the contents of the open publishing site. Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation.

Philippines Anti-Bases Movement: Time to Assert National Sovereignty Once Again

Scrap VFA! Movement | 17.09.2011 04:30 | Anti-militarism | Social Struggles | Terror War | World

With pride as a people, we commemorate a historic national event this coming September 16, the rejection of the US military bases twenty years ago




It was the culmination of decades of struggle against the offenses and abuses committed by US troops against our women and our people. Finding refuge in their military bases, these military offenders were shielded by extra-territoriality privileges beyond the jurisdiction of our criminal laws and justice system. More seriously, these bases enhanced US interference in our country’s economy and politics, and were used as staging points of US aggression in Vietnam.

The votes of the Magnificent 12 were a historic assertion of our people’s sovereignty and a declaration that our territory will never more be used to advance US economic and military interests in the Asian region.
While on the surface diplomatic relations “cooled off” between the Philippines and the United States, the latter actively pushed behind the scene for an alternative scheme that would “bring back the boys” and that would turn out to have far more disastrous effects on our land and people. Sadly, we now confront the reality that US troops have come back and stayed under the Visiting Forces Agreement signed in 1998.

Pursuing its war on terror in the Philippines, the US sent Special Forces organized under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines (JSOTF-P) to Mindanao and Sulu, and who have since stayed. As many as six thousand US soldiers come for an exercise, holding as many as 37 exercises in a year. US ships dock in our ports as here many as 100 times a year. They have facilities in major Philippine military camps and they use almost all their pre-1992 camps and facilities.
And the troubles we had during the bases are also back: abuse of women, bigger prostitution problem, assault on civilians, question of criminal jurisdiction over offenders, disposal of their waste, environmental destruction during exercises. In all these cases, the VFA allows greater protection for the offending US soldiers over the demands for justice for Filipino victims.

The Scrap VFA Movement has been campaigning to terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement. But the problem, clearly, is beyond the VFA.
The United States has strategic interests in this part of the world. The region is rich in natural and mineral resources, offers a vast market for US products, and has important trade routes and new energy resources. To protect these interests, the US needs the Philippines to station forward troops.

Appealing to “long-standing friendship” based on “historical and cultural ties,” the US capitalizes on the Mutual Defence Treaty (MDT) and all the other military agreements as basis for continuing military presence in our country. But we remember only too well how the Mutual Defence Treaty was practically imposed on the Philippines soon after World War II, in return for rehabilitation funds for destruction and damages that American planes themselves caused, and for military assistance in quelling social unrest in the country at that time.

It is our responsibility as Filipinos to give primacy to our national interests. National sovereignty must always prevail. We challenge our present Senators to do what the Magnificent 12 did in 1991.

Hail the Heroes of the Anti-Bases Movement!
Time to Assert National Sovereignty Once Again

TERMINATE THE VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT!

ABROGATE THE MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATY AND ALL OTHER MILITARY AGREEMENTS TO FREE OUR COUNTRY FROM ANY MILITARY INVOLVEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES IN ITS WARS AND MILITARY ADVENTURES!

FINALLY, WE ASK OUR GOVERNMENT TO PURSUE A TRUE AND INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY IN LINE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF THE PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION!

Convenors and Member Organizations:

Philippine Women's Network for Peace and Security ¤ Stop the War Coalition-Philippines ¤ Task Force Subic Rape ¤ Welga ng Kababaihan ¤ World March of Women-Philippines ¤
Action and Solidarity for the Empowerment of Teachers (ASSERT) ¤ AKBAYAN Partylist ¤ Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)-Women ¤ Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)-Youth ¤ Bagong Kamalayan Collective Incorporated ¤ Bisig-Akbayan ¤ Buklod ng Kababaihan (Olonggapo) ¤ Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) ¤ Coalition against Trafficking of Women -Asia Pacific ¤ Freedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) ¤ Women and Gender Commission AMRSP ¤ Fil-Cuba Solidarity ¤ Focus on the Global South ¤ Kababaihan Pilipinas ¤ KAISA KA ¤ Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD) ¤ KPN ¤ KPP-Kalayaan ¤ KSM Pilipinas ¤ KUMPAS ¤ League of Irban Poor for Action (LUPA) ¤ Magnolia ¤ Manggagawa para sa Kalayaan ng Bayan (MAKABAYAN) ¤ MAKALAYA ¤ Metro Subic Network ¤ Mindanao Peoples Peace Movement ¤ NEFFAIA (Nueca Ecija) ¤ NUPCO ¤ Pambansang Koalisyon ng Kababaihan sa Kanayunan (PKKK) ¤ Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) ¤ PEACE ¤ Peace Women Partners ¤ Peoples Task Force for Bases Clean Up ¤ PGX Philippine Global Exchange ¤ Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement ¤ Piglas Kababaihan ¤ Progresibong Alyansa ng mga Mangingisda (PANGISDA) ¤ Resource Center for Peoples Development ¤ SARILAYA ¤ SDK-KAISA-UPD ¤ SMUCZ ¤ SMMK ¤ SOS Women ¤ STISC ¤ SRC-NTA-KASAMA Pilpinas ¤ Teatrong Bayan ¤ Ugnayan Makabayan ¤ Women's Education Development Productivity and Research Organization (WEDPRO) ¤ Woman Health ¤ Women's Legal Bureau (WLB) ¤ Youth for Nationalism and Democracy (YND)

Contact Persons:
Atty. Virginia Suarez-Pinlac
Ana Maria R. Nemenzo

Scrap VFA! Movement

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech