[Marxism] 106 years of struggle

[Dbachmozart@xxxxxxx]

Subject:  Philippine-American War 106th Anniv.  Statement


FROM BAYAN-USA
Contact: info@xxxxxxxxxxxx

pls.  forward widely

106 YEARS OF PHILIPPINE STRUGGLE AGAINST  U.S.
IMPERIALISM (1899-2005)

On February 4, 2005, progressive  and
anti-imperialist Filipinos and allies around the world
observe the  106th anniversary of the beginning of
United States imperialist aggression in  the
Philippines. After more than two years of
anti-colonial revolution led  by the Katipunan from
1896-1898, Spain subverted the will of the
Filipino  people by âsellingâ the Philippines to the
U.S. for $20 million following its  defeat in the
Spanish-American war. The U.S., claiming to
have liberated  the Filipinos from their former
colonizers, promised independence and  cooperation with
the Filipino people, all the while
planning to invade and  eventually replace Spain as the
Philippinesâ new colonizer. On February 4,  1899, U.S.
soldiers fired the first shots
against Filipino revolutionary  forces at San Juan del
Monte, beginning the long and brutal  Philippine-U.S.
war. Over 126,000 U.S. troops were
sent to âpacifyâ the  Filipino people, leading to the
massacre of 1.4 million Filipino men, women  and
children from 1899-1913. One of the most
brutal wars waged in the name  of U.S. imperialism, the
Philippine-U.S. war remains largely  ignored,
belittled, and even in some cases denied. U.S.
imperialismâs  interest in invading the Philippines
were numerous â regional economic and  military
dominance, a market for U.S. surplus, and a source of
raw  materials and cheap labor. These motives were as
evident then as they are  today in the occupation of
Iraq. Wars such as these
against oppressed  people exposes the racism inherent
in imperialism. Firsthand accounts of U.S.  soldiers
compared combat in the Philippines
to âkilling injuns and  niggersâ â a rabidly racist
legacy that continues today with instances of  Iraqi
prisoner torture and violence toward civilian Iraqi
women and  children. There are well-documented cases of
massacres similar to that of My  Lai in Vietnam,
including that of General Jacob H. Smith, who ordered
his  soldiers to âkill every one over
tenâ 

"Kill every one over ten." -  Gen. Jacob H. Smith
Criminals Because They Were Born Ten Years Before  We
Took the Philippines. Editorial cartoon
from the New York Evening  Journal, May 5, 1902. The
tired old rhetoric of the U.S. bringing  âdemocracyâ
and âliberationâ to an oppressed people while
occupying their  land, massacring their people, and
pursuing business interests should sound  familiar. Not
only did the predatory
nature of U.S. interests manifest 106  years ago in the
Philippines, but was also the pretext for  military
intervention in countries like Korea (1950-1953),
Vietnam  (1961-1970) and most recently Iraq (2003 -
present). In fact, in October  2003, President George
W. Bush invoked the Philippines as a blueprint  for
Iraq, stating before the Philippine
Congress that the U.S. was âproud  of its part in the
great story of the Filipino peopleâ and claiming  that
the U.S. invasion had âliberated the Philippines from
colonial rule.â  If, by âdemocracy,â Bush means a
corrupt puppet-state serving the political  and
economic interests of the U.S. capitalist class, then
we can certainly  expect this style of
democracy in Iraq as well, as the U.S. sponsorship  of
wealthy, pro-U.S. candidates in the January 30 Iraqi
election  demonstrates. As the U.S.
deepens its grip on Iraq, it faces  continued
resistance from insurgents whom the U.S. brands as
âterrorists,â  just as it branded  Filipino
revolutionaries who struggled against the  U.S. as
âbandoleros.â The American invasion of the
Philippines, after over  300 years of
Spanish colonization, served as the catalyst for
Filipino  out-migration, which continues at a
staggering rate to this day. Seeking to  escape the
poverty wrought by U.S. imperialism and government
corruption,  Filipinos currently leave the Philippines
at the rate of 1,000 a day for  overseas
work, as they travel to over 150 countries in search
of the  wealth stolen from them. One out of every eight
Filipinos lives outside of  the Philippines, and
Filipinos rank 2nd only behind Mexicans in  yearly
immigration to the U.S. Upon arriving in their host
countries, the  majority of these Filipino immigrants
in search of the American dream are  more likely to
encounter the harsh  realities of working  class
exploitation, racism, exclusion from mainstream
society, deportation  (or the constant threat of), etc.
Today, 106 years later, the Philippines  remains a
neo-colony of the U.S. â an independent country only
on paper,  whose political and economic policies remain
subject to U.S. dictates.
In  2003, Philippine president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
accepted $356 million in  military aid from the U.S.,
further strengthening Arroyo's
subservience to  Bush's regime. Although the Filipino
people fought to remove U.S. military  bases from their
country in 1991, the Philippine
government continues to  allow the U.S. military to
engage in âwar exercisesâ under the guise  of
anti-terrorism. As recently as January 31,
2005, the U.S. kicked off a  new round of military
exercises in the southern Philippines  called  Balance
Piston 05-01 in direct violation of
the Philippine constitution,  which prohibits foreign
troops from stationing in the country. One  cannot
isolate the plight of Filipinos in the U.S. from the
history of  U.S. military and economic dominance of the
Philippines, beginning in 1899.  As Filipinos in the
United States, it remains urgent as ever that we  do
not forsake this inherited struggle. As part of the
people of the very  country whose leaders and wealthy
elites ravaged (and continue to ravage) our  homeland,
we embrace the task of educating, organizing and
mobilizing  support for Philippine
self-determination. Just as anti-imperialist  Americans
such as Mark Twain voiced opposition to the
Philippine-U.S. war,  we speak out today
to oppose all wars of imperialist aggression, as  well
as the ongoing plunder and oppression of neo-colonies
such as the  Philippines.  As a
newly formed national alliance of progressive  Filipino
organizations and national democratic forces from
throughout the  U.S., BAYAN-USA vows
to advance our people's struggle for  national
sovereignty and genuine democracy right here in the
belly of the  imperialist beast. We call on all
peace-loving people to oppose the U.S.  imperialist
intervention and demand the pull-out of all U.S.
troops in the  Philippines.  Oust GMA now!U.S. Troops
Out of the  Philippines!Resume
NDFP-GRP Peace Talks!Defend Jose Maria Sison!  National
Liberation for Iraq and Palestine!
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