I le laugaina o se sauniga soofaatasi a le Konekeresi a Filipaina i le Aso Toonai, na saunoa ai Peresitene Bush i le au faitio masalosalo i lana faiga faavae a Iraki, “O nisi e faapea o le aganuu a Sasaʻe Tutotonu o le a le lagolagoina ai faalapotopotoga o le faatemokalasi. O ia lava masalosaloga sa faaalia muamua e uiga i le aganuu a Asia. O nei masalosaloga na faamaonia le sese i le toetoe lava ono sefulu tausaga talu ai, ina ua avea le Ripapelika o Filipaina ma uluai malo faatemokalasi i Asia.”
O le tele o le tautalaga a Bush e le aoga - e pei o lana tautinoga o le taua i Iraki na mafua ai le tapunia o se nofoaga o tagata faatupu faalavelave, ae o le mea moni o le US "ua ave se atunuu e le o se faiga faatupu faalavelave ma liliu ai i se tasi, ” i upu a le tagata tomai faapitoa i faiga faatupu faalavelave Jessica Stern. Ae sa’o lava Bush ina ua ia fautua mai o le vaavaai i faamaumauga a Amerika i Filipaina e mafai ona fesoasoani e faamalamalama ai mea o loo teuina mo Iraq.
O le a le mea o loʻo taʻu mai e tala faʻasolopito ia i tatou e uiga i le tautinoga a Amerika i le faʻalauiloaina o le faatemokalasi?
A hundred years ago, the United States defeated the Spanish colonizers of the Philippines only to take over the islands for itself. (In Bush’s speech on Saturday this was summarized as “Together our soldiers liberated the Philippines from colonial rule.” And in the words of presidential press secretary Scott McClellan, national hero Jose Rizal’s martyrdom in 1896 inspired the Philippines: “And later, revolution broke out and Asia soon had its first independent republic.” Well, yes, but that independent republic was promptly conquered by the United States.) When critics of the U.S. annexation of the Philippines charged that Washington had not obtained the consent of the inhabitants, Senator Henry Cabot Lodge replied that if consent of the inhabitants were necessary “then our whole past record of expansion is a crime.”
O le a le mea na mananao ai Filipino i tua i le 1898? O le a lo latou moomooga faatemokalasi? E tusa ai ma se molimau aoao a Amerika i luma o le Senate a Amerika, e itiiti lava se manatu o Filipino i le uiga o le tutoatasi ma atonu latou te manatu o se mea e 'ai. “E leai so latou manatu i lona uiga nai lo se taifau leoleo mamoe,” o lana tala lea. Ae e le’i leva ona mae’a i lana molimau, na ta’ua ai e le ali’i ta’ita’i o le atunu’u, o Filipina “e manana’o e fa’ate’a tagata Amerika”. “Latou te faia?” o le fesili lea a se Senator le mautonu. “Ioe, lau susuga,” o le tali atu lea a le taitai aoao. "Latou te mananaʻo e tuliesea i matou, ina ia latou maua lenei tutoʻatasi, ae latou te le iloa poʻo le a."
O lenei US le mafai ona malamalama i le uiga moni o le filifiliga a le tagata lava ia e le na o se myopia liliu-o-le-seneturi. Seʻi manatu i le vaaiga o loo sosoo mai mai le ata lafoia o le 1945, “Back to Bataan.” I se faleaoga i Filipaina i le 1941, na fesili ai se faiaʻoga Amerika i tamaiti aʻoga po o le ā na avatu e le Iunaite Setete iā Filipaina. “Soda pop!” “Tale vevela!” “Tifaga!” “Leitio!” “Pesipolo!” 'e'e tamaiti. Peitaʻi, e faasaʻo e le faiaʻoga ma le puleaʻoga le au fai mea sesē e ala i le faamatala atu o le sao moni a Amerika o le aʻoaʻoina lea o le saʻolotoga o Filipino. Peitaʻi, i le taimi muamua, fai mai le faiaʻoga ma ona foliga saʻo, e leʻi talisapaia e Filipino le saʻolotoga ona sa latou “tetee i le galuega a Amerika.”
E moni sa latou faia. Ma le tele o afe o Filipino - o tagata tau ma tagata e le o ni taua - na fasia e le militeri a Amerika e aʻoaʻo ai Filipino i le uiga o le saʻolotoga a Amerika.
I le 1946, ina ua toeitiiti atoa le ʻafa senituri, na muta ai pulega faakolone a Amerika i Filipaina. Ae na faʻaauau pea le pule a Amerika ma tumau ai le faʻalavelave a le temokalasi a Filipaina. E le o le taimi muamua lea na tuʻuina atu ai le tutoʻatasi o se kolone ma suia ai le colonialism i le neocolonialism. Ina ia faia se faʻataʻitaʻiga faʻafuaseʻi, na tuʻuina atu ai e Peretania le tutoʻatasi o Iraq i le 1932, ae leʻi leʻi sainia se feagaiga e 25 tausaga e tuʻuina atu ai Lonetona avanoa i nofoaga faʻafitafita Iraqi ma kamupani suauʻu i sisifo na maua se loka i le suauu Iraqi.
The pattern in the Philippines was similar: Washington retained two huge military bases and many smaller ones on a 99-year, rent-free lease. The Philippine city of Olongapo became, in the words of a 1959 account in taimi magazine, “the only foreign city run lock, stock and barrel by the U.S. Navy.” The terms of the bases agreement were revised several times over the next few decades, but as U.S. officials acknowledged even in the 1970s nowhere did the United States have more extensive and more unhindered base rights than in the Philippines. These bases served for years as the logistic hub for U.S. interventions from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf; Washington, not Manila, decided how these bases would be used and against whom, and the Philippine people were not informed of the presence of nuclear weapons on their soil.
O Filipaina tutoatasi sa i lalo ifo o le Iunaite Setete i le tamaoaiga. Na fa'asa le malo o Filipaina ona suia le tau o ana tupe e aunoa ma le fa'atagaga a le peresitene o le US ma na tu'uina atu i ai le aufaipisinisi a Amerika aia tatau fa'apitoa e teu fa'afaigaluega i Filipaina. Na tauanau e le au ofisa o Amerika e faapea na taliaina e le au Filipino ia aia tatau faapitoa mo tupe teufaafaigaluega, ae o le mea moni, o le tulafono e mafai ai ona pasia le Konekeresi a Filipaina ina ua maeʻa le taofia o le au fai tulafono tetee, ma na faʻamaonia e Filipino aia tatau o tupe teufaafaigaluega i se referendum ona o Uosigitone na faia fesoasoani toe faʻaleleia i le taua- fa'aleagaina Filipaina fa'alagolago ile palota a Filipino ioe.
From 1946 to 1972, the Philippines was a formal democracy in the sense of having contested elections. But it was a political system in which two coalitions of the wealthy elite, indistinguishable by ideology or program, competed for power, with a major determinant of success being the overt or covert backing of the U.S. government. It is true that there was an issue separating the candidates in 1965 when Ferdinand Marcos ran on a pledge not to send Philippine civic action troops to Vietnam, but since Marcos violated his campaign promise as soon as he won the election, this is hardly a meaningful exception. This may have been another instance of U.S. political tutelage of the Filipinos — recall that during the 1964 U.S. presidential campaign Lyndon Johnson had pledged “No Wider War” and then promptly escalated U.S. military involvement — but more likely Marcos’s reversal was swayed by the U.S. funds secretly sent his way.
By 1972, despite the best efforts of the Philippine elite and their U.S. allies, Philippine democracy was finally beginning to express itself. Politicians were finding that their usual vote-buying no longer worked (“They take money but vote for the man they think is qualified,” complained one politician.) Peasants, students, and workers were increasingly challenging the status quo. Reacting to the popular pressures, the Congress and even the Supreme Court were moving in a more and more nationalistic direction, threatening U.S. interests. And so when Marcos, approaching the end of his second and final term as president, declared martial law, there were no denunciations emanating from Washington. On the contrary, as Marcos closed down Congress and the press and arrested his political opponents, Washington stepped up its military and economic aid. As a U.S. Senate staff report summarized the U.S. reaction, “military bases and a familiar government in the Philippines are more important than the preservation of democratic institutions which were imperfect at best.”
Mo le sili atu ma le sefulu tausaga le umi o le pulega faʻatonu a Ferdinand Marcos, sa lagolagoina o ia e le malo o le Iunaite Setete. Ina ua ia siitia ese le tulafono faamiliteli i le 1981, ae na ia faatumauina uma lona malosi o le martial law, na asiasi atu le sui peresitene o le US o George HW Bush i Manila ma sii atu se toast ia Marcos: "Matou te fiafia i lou tausisia o mataupu faavae faatemokalasi ma faiga faatemokalasi."
I le 1986, o tagata Filipaina, na faʻaalia ai latou, e le pei o latou taʻitaʻi poʻo i latou i Uosigitone, na latou malamalama lelei i le faatemokalasi, na faʻaumatia Marcos, ae o le pulega a Reagan na pipii atu ia te ia seia oʻo i le taimi mulimuli.
Na suitulaga e Corazon Aquino ia Marcos ma i le taimi muamua sa ia te ia le tele o tulaga alualu i luma i lana malo ma faalauiloa ai se polokalame o le toefuataiga o agafesootai e avea ma auala e foia ai le faafitauli ua leva ona fai i le atunuu. Ae i lalo o le uunaiga a le Iunaite Setete ma le vaegaau a Filipaina, na aveesea ai le alualu i luma ma avea le lisi o mataupu a Aquino ma se tasi o gaoioiga faamiliteli nai lo le toefuataiga o agafesootai.
E ui lava i taumafaiga sili a Aquino, ae na taʻua i le tulafono fou i tua atu o Marcos e faapea "o nofoaga o le militeri mai fafo, fitafita, poʻo nofoaga e le tatau ona faʻatagaina i Filipaina sei vagana ai lalo o se feagaiga ua malilie i ai le Senate." Sa lava le malosi o lagona faalotonuu i totonu o le atunuu ma i le 1991 na palota ai le Senate a Filipaina e tetee i le faalauteleina o le Maliega a US-Philippines Military Bases Agreement. Ae toetoe lava o le taimi lava na faia ai le palota, na taumafai le US faatasi ai ma le fesoasoani a le au ofisa o Filipaina e felagolagomaʻi i le faavae.
I le 1999, na maeʻa ai se maliliega e tuʻuina atu ai i le US le "avanoa" i nofoaga autu o Filipaina ma i le 2002 na auina atu le selau o fitafita US i Filipaina e fesoasoani e tau le au a Abu Sayyef. I aso nei, e tusa ai ma se lipoti a le Agence France Presse, “o loo galue le Pentagon e faatumauina i luga o atumotu le mea na taʻua e le ulu o le US Pacific Command Admiral Thomas Fargo o 'tulaga taua tele,' e aofia ai helikopa UH-1H, vaalele felauaiga C-130, loli mamafa. ma vaʻa leoleo e mafai ona faʻaaogaina i tulaga o faʻalavelave tetele a le militeri a Amerika i le itulagi."
O le mea moni, e le mana'omia e nei 'au ma mea faigaluega a Amerika ona soli le fa'avae a Filipaina pe a na'o le Peresetene Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo e tu'uina atu le feagaiga talafeagai i le Senate. Ae o le masalomia o sea feagaiga o le a palota i lalo, o le pulega a Arroyo ma lana paaga Amerika ua filifili e le amanaiaina le faavae. O le uiga iloga lea e le o le faatemokalasi ae o le neocolonialism.
I Iraq i aso nei, e manino lava e leai se faatemokalasi: o le US e faʻatautaia le faʻaaliga. E pei ona taʻua e se faufautua i se tasi o sui o le US na tofia Iraq Governing Council, "O le faitau aofaʻi o Iraq e iloa lelei o tagata nofoia o loʻo faʻatautaia mea. O isi tagata uma o loʻo i ai iina i se tulaga lua poʻo lalo ifo." Ae e tusa lava pe fai ma pe a faia le palota, ma pule aloaia e le malo o Iraqi, e mafai e se tasi ona faʻamoemoeina se sootaga neocolonial, lea e fesoasoani ai le US ia mautinoa o Iraqis o loʻo taʻitaʻia e lagolagoina le fiafia a Amerika.
Already we see indications of U.S. goals. The Times Niu Ioka reported on April 29, 2003, “The United States is planning a long-term military relationship with the emerging government of Iraq, one that would grant the Pentagon access to military bases and project American influence into the heart of the unsettled region, senior Bush administration officials say.” One senior administration official stated that “There will be some kind of a long-term defense relationship with a new Iraq, similar to Afghanistan. The scope of that has yet to be defined — whether it will be full-up operational bases, smaller forward operating bases or just plain access.” Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld denied the story, but five months later (9/21/03) another Times story indicated that Bush administration officials “say the future Iraqi government will decide . . . whether to allow the United States to establish permanent bases here, should the Pentagon seek them.”
In terms of economic policy, the tutoatasi commented (9/22/03), “Iraq was in effect put up for sale yesterday when the American-appointed administration announced it was opening up all sectors of the economy to foreign investors. . . . The initiative bore all the hallmarks of Washington’s ascendant neoconservative lobby, complete with tax cuts and trade tariff rollbacks. It will apply to everything from industry to health and water, although not oil.” And as for oil, the U.S.-appointed chair of the U.S.-established “advisory” committee for the Iraqi oil industry, Philip J. Carroll, former head of Shell Oil, has said that the one near-certainty is that the future expansion of Iraq’s oil industry will be driven in part by foreign capital.
I lana saunoaga i le Konekeresi a Filipaina, na faafetaia ai e Siaosi W. Bush “tagatanuu o Manila o loo laina i luga o le alatele i aso nei mo lo latou faafeiloaiga ma le agalelei.” Atonu na te lei vaai i le faitau afe o Filipino o tetee i lana asiasiga. Na tuai le taʻavale a Bush mo le itula aʻo popole le Secret Service i lona saogalemu ma le US ma le pulega a Filipaina (o loʻo i ai le pulega faʻatemokalasi) na taofia ai le au faʻataʻitaʻiga - ma le faatemokalasi moni - na tusia i tua o pa puipui ma poloka o taavale a le militeri.
O le ZNetwork o loʻo faʻatupeina naʻo le agalelei o ana tagata faitau.
lafo