Manila Police Block Protesters Near US Embassy

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Manila Police Block Protesters Near US Embassy
MANILA, Philippines June 12, 2012 (AP)

Philippine riot police have blocked hundreds of left-wing protesters and farmers from marching toward the U.S. Embassy in Manila to demand land and to protest the presence of American troops in the country.

Police used fiberglass shields and wooden batons Tuesday to stop about 1,000 protesters from getting close to the heavily secured American compound, sparking a brief scuffle. No arrests were made and the protesters later dispersed peacefully.

The protesters slammed the government's land reform program as ineffective and said the presence of U.S. counterterrorism troops in the south has undermined Philippine independence.

The protests were staged as the country celebrated its declaration of independence from centuries of Spanish colonization in 1898.


Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/manila-police-block-protesters-us-embassy-16546606

[Ken Burch]

1. Disgusting. And the protesters are right, dammit.

Now that the Cold War is over, there's no possible justification for having U.S. troops in the Philippines.

As the song "Bayan Ko!" says so eloquently:

(English translation)

My country, the Philippines,
land of gold and flowers.
Love is in her palms
that offered beauty and splendor.
And for her refinement and beauty,
foreigners were enticed.
My country, thou wast enslaved,
mired in suffering.

Even birds that are free to fly–
cage them and they shall cry!
How much more for country so beautiful,
would she not yearn to be free?
My Philippines that I treasure,
cradle of my tears and suffering,
My dream is
to see thee truly free!

[cstanleytech]

3. " there's no possible justification for having U.S. troops in the Philippines."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_Philippines

Now the fact is they do have some problems there as the link shows and our government providing aide isnt anything radical nor is there no justification as you so claimed however if the Philippine government changes its mind and asks for no further aid I wont complain as it would save us some money.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Eloquent is the right word. Wonderful! Apparently many people who know it agree. Thank you. n/t

[4bucksagallon]

2. At least five good reasons for some US troops to be here in the Philippines.

Jemaah Islamiyah branch of Al Qaeda
Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF)
Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
Abu Sayyaf Group
New People's Army (NPA) Communist or as they are known here No Permanent Address.NPA
Most people here including the military love having advisors here, with rare exceptions.

[Ken Burch]

5. There's nothing we can do to stop any of those groups

The only way they CAN be stopped is for the Philippine government to stop being so relentlessly corrupt and unresponsive to the needs of the people.

It's time to bring most of our troops home from most of the world. We can't be "the world's police" without being imperialist.

[cstanleytech]

8. We tried pretending the rest of the world didnt matter before before WWII if you recall your history

and it didnt work out so well.
I do agree we could probably do with some reduction in aid, how much of a reduction is a matter of debate though.

[Ken Burch]

9. It's not about pretending the rest of the world doesn't exist

It's about trying to find SOME way to engage that world that isn't primarily about being good at killing people. It can't be progressive to have U.S. troops spread all over the planet, fighting mainly these days for corporate interests.

The Democratic Party is supposed to be against imperialism, dammit. It was McKinley who sent troops to the Philippines and Cuba, not Bryan.

[cstanleytech]

10. My apologies then if you didnt mean that.

It just seemed kind of like that was your intent when I read

"It's time to bring most of our troops home from most of the world. We can't be "the world's police" without being imperialist."

[Ken Burch]

11. What is so terrible about being one country among a lot of other countries?

Why do we even NEED to be a "superpower"?

It's not like superpowers do anything but get people killed. They don't free anybody and they don't make life better.

[cstanleytech]

18. #1 No idea where that came from or how its related to the topic atm.

#2 We dont need to but the fact is we are one and it places us under atleast some obligation, not "world police" level but rather lending aid which is what we are doing to the Philippines in providing them with training in dealing with their own problems.

#3 Nor is it not like small countries either, ounce for ounce I am willing to bet far more atrocities have been committed by small countries than by large ones.

[Ken Burch]

22. We should only be giving unconditional economic aid, not military aid.

All military aid is reactionary and based on wanting to fight for corporate power. Our troops never fight for the people...they aren't allowed to.

[cstanleytech]

23. That makes no sense at all since our troops arent fighting there they are assisting in training much

like how we send FBI agents to other countries to assist them in training and I dont buy the whole " corporate power" claim as it doesnt make make sense.

[Ken Burch]

24. Yeah, training...like what kind of training?

Like at the "School of the Americas"?

We should be training countries to avoid war, not have more of it.

And in the Philippines, the army(like most armies in the Southeast Asia area)is pretty much just an army that fights for the wealthy.

[cstanleytech]

25. This isnt about training them for war its about training them

on how best to deal with terrorism which they have an issue with or atleast thats what I assume is going on assuming what I read in the article was true, if you have some proof though that I am unaware of to show otherwise then please by all means share it.

[EFerrari]

27. If we have been coaching them since WW2 with these results

it's time for them to fire the coach.

[cstanleytech]

28. Well now thats their decision to be making isnt it. nt

[EFerrari]

29. Sure. Although whether the Philippines can make that decision

independent of US wishes or influence is debatable.

[cstanleytech]

30. I feel secure in believing they can make their own decisions after all they did before when

their government rejected allowing our bases to remain open there back in '91.

[EFerrari]

31. And yet their citizens are having to protest the presence of our troops there today.

I'm not as sanguine as you are.

[cstanleytech]

32. You are forgetting something.

"The protesters slammed the government's land reform program as ineffective and said the presence of U.S. counterterrorism troops in the south has undermined Philippine independence."

Now I dont know about the land reform they are protesting over but I do know that last time I checked their governments still their own and if they are unhappy with them then they need vote someone else into office just like we try to do here.

[EFerrari]

33. The difference is, we don't have the United States on our backs

or on our government's back when we try to make a change.

I think that living here, we don't realize what that pressure can be like. We don't know what it's like to have some other, more powerful world influence trying to shape our policy.

[cstanleytech]

34. Are you saying that the elections are being rigged by the US in favor of the current government?

I would like to see your evidence if thats your argument.

[EFerrari]

35. Do you think our government has to rig elections to have influence?

I don't. It doesn't need that kind of finesse.

[grantcart]

6. One thousand anti US protestors.

To put that into context if you applied for a sibling visa from the Philippines you would have to wait 23 years, the backlog is so long

The U.S. State Department released family visa statistics that show brothers and sisters of U.S. citizens that are from the Philippines who applied for F4 family visas on Jan. 8, 1989 are just now receiving visas.

The Philippines has the longest backlog for visa application to the US of any country in the world.

[Ken Burch]

7. Why would you defend our having troops there at all?

The Cold war is over. And there's nothing we can do about the internal insurgents there.
Those insurgents exist because the Philippine government is corrupt and completely unresponsive to human needs of any sort.

At this point, it's basically Vietnam without the NLF.

We also need to get the hell out of Okinawa. The South Pacific doesn't need U.S. or any other foreign troops.

[DCBob]

12. These "internal insurgents" are mostly thugs kidnapping foreigners for money.

They hardly ever mention political demands. The reason US needs to get involved is because they often target Americans and other westerners. As a frequent traveler to Mindanao, I for one, am pleased there are US troops there trying to stop these criminals.

[Ken Burch]

15. The thugs could be dealt with with a few Special Forces types.

We no longer need a mass troop presence there.

It's time to finally let the Philippines be their own country on their own terms.

[DCBob]

16. Perhaps you are unaware the US military left the Philippines many many years ago.

We used to have two major bases there.. Clark AFB and Subic Naval. I suspect the vast majority of filipinos have no problem with the small number of troops there now helping with the terrorist/kidnapper problem.

[4bucksagallon]

36. Agree with you....DCBob

I am living in Mindanao and the people here for the most part love us and the American advisors. We had six AFP stay at our beach here and they all had trained or were on the list to be trained by the American advisors here. I have had NPA members show up at the gate and demand money or else. Which was the reason for the AFP staying here for a few days. The insurgent groups are thugs, sure the government here is corrupt but from what I have seen the military tries hard to do it's job. I have not seen any American advisors here in this part of Mindanao, Compostella Valley region. I would love to talk to them and get their take on the situation.

[DCBob]

37. Hi 4bucks..

May I ask what you are doing there in Mindanao... just curious. My wife's family is from Misamis Occidental province. I travel there 1 to 2 times a year. So far no incidents but her hometown is not far from some of the areas that have had problems in the past.

Thanks for the comments!

[grantcart]

13. my point has nothing to do about 'the troops' or more to the

Point the agrarian reform issues that are the real point of the protest (the soldiers issue was a tack on to get some publicity.

My point was give a heads up to those unfamiliar with the Philippines is that there is little significance in this particular mini demonstration.

The Philippines people in general remain uber supportive of all things American and if you had a demonstration for those who want to go to the US you would have a crowd in the millions, not the hundreds.

[Ken Burch]

14. I have a lot of Pinoy co-workers

Yes, they are supportive of America. No, they don't want to be a U.S. colony anymore.

We should have given them full independence immediately in 1900.

[DCBob]

17. There are no plans to make the Philippines a "US colony".

good grief.

[cstanleytech]

19. "We should have given them full independence immediately in 1900." They have that.

If they didnt then Subic and Clark would still be open or atleast something similar but we no longer have bases there and they have their own elected government with its own laws.

[Ken Burch]

20. You're missing the point

Our military presence there at all is a legacy of the fifty years we unjustly and illegally held the Philippines as a colony.

We need to totally end all vestiges of anything colonial, anywhere in the world where they still exist(such as Puerto Rico).

And we need to stop pushing for "free trade"...the goal of "free trade" is to put the developing world into the status of being U.S. economic colonies.

Once you control a country's economy, that country is no longer independent.

[cstanleytech]

21. What vestiges? We no longer have any bases there, we dont levy or collect any taxes,

maintain and man their army, appoint anyone to office as they do all of that and more themselves so again what vestiges?
As for Puerto Rico thats a poor example for you to bring up since there have been 3 previous attempts to have them decide yet they keep sitting on the fence, in fact there is a new attempt to let them decide coming up in Nov.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rican_status_referendum,_2012

[Judi Lynn]

26. They closed Subic Bay and Clark AFB during Bush I, but of course no one sensible believed they left,

not really.

New movements, of course, as always, from recent reports:

US military to help Philippines monitor coastal waters
Posted: 13 June 2012 0636 hrs

WASHINGTON: The US military said on Tuesday it planned to help the Philippines monitor its coastal waters as Manila faces an escalating dispute with China over territorial claims.

The Pentagon revised earlier comments and said there was no firm plan to deliver a land-based radar to the Philippines, but that a radar could be part of future assistance.

"We are in the initial planning stages of assisting the Philippines with a National Coast Watch Centre," Major Catherine Wilkinson told AFP.

The centre is designed "to create an overall picture of what is going on in the Philippines' territorial waters," she said.

"Right now we are discussing a range of options and no details have been finalised. Radars may be an eventual part of the package but it hasn't been determined yet."

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1207274/1/.html

[center]~~~~~[/center]

June 11, 2012 6:31 PM
US, Philippine leaders hail growing alliance

WASHINGTON — The U.S. and Philippines said Friday they are expanding intelligence sharing and cooperation on maritime security, as President Barack Obama reiterated Washington's desire to be viewed as a Pacific power.

Obama met at the Oval Office with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III against the backdrop of a two-month standoff between Philippine and Chinese vessels at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea.

China's assertive behavior in those waters has served to bolster Manila's 60-year alliance with Washington, which thrived during the Cold War but ebbed after nationalist political forces prompted the closure of American military bases in 1992.

Obama thanked Aquino for what he called "excellent cooperation" on economic, defense and other issues. Aquino earlier declared the allies are at a "new juncture in our relations."

The security and military cooperation with the Philippines "is a reminder to everybody that the United States considers itself, and is, a Pacific power," Obama said.

More:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501708_162-57450738/us-philippine-leaders-hail-growing-alliance/

[center]~~~~~[/center]

US deploys most advanced warships, jets to Asia
3:14 am | Wednesday, June 13th, 2012

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii—The commander of the Pacific Fleet on Monday said the US Navy would be sending its most advanced warships, submarines and fighter jets to the Asia-Pacific region as China modernized its own naval forces at breakneck speed.

Adm. Cecil Haney said a policy recently outlined by US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to deploy 60 percent of the US Navy’s ships to the Pacific by 2020 was about capabilities as well as quantity.

“It’s not just numbers—it’s also what those platforms, what those units, bring to the table,” Haney told The Associated Press in an interview at his headquarters in Pearl Harbor.

~snip~

President Benigno Aquino met US President Barack Obama on Friday at the White House, where the two leaders discussed expanding military and economic ties.

More:
http://globalnation.inquirer.net/39773/us-deploys-most-advanced-warships-jets-to-asia