<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<div class="container font-size5 content-width3">
<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element" dir="ltr"> <font
size="-2"><a class="domain reader-domain"
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/04/10/its-time-to-end-us-military-aid-to-the-philippines/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/04/10/its-time-to-end-us-military-aid-to-the-philippines/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">It’s Time to End US Military Aid to the
Philippines</h1>
<span class="post_author_intro">by</span> <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/7hapatebathu/"
rel="nofollow">Amee Chew</a> - April 10, 2019</span></div>
<hr>
<div class="content">
<div class="moz-reader-content line-height4 reader-show-element"
dir="ltr">
<div id="readability-page-1" class="page">
<div itemprop="articleBody">
<p>Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s bloody “War on
Drugs” has now claimed <a title="over"
href="https://drugarchive.ph/post/26-the-drug-killings-who-what-%2520where-when-how-master"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">over</a> <a
title="27,000"
href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/12/05/18/chr-chief-drug-war-deaths-could-be-as-high-as-27000"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">27,000</a>
lives — almost all poor and indigent people, including
children, summarily executed by police or vigilantes.</p>
<p>Over <a title="140,000"
href="https://theaseanpost.com/article/packed-prisons-philippines"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">140,000</a>
pre-trial detainees are being held in overcrowded
Philippine prisons, many on trumped up <a title="drug
charges"
href="https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/210516-charts-number-drug-cases-disposition-philippine-courts"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drug charges</a>;
75 percent of the total prison population still awaits
their day in court, let alone conviction. On top of
this, assassinations of human rights lawyers,
journalists, labor and peasant organizers, indigenous
leaders, clergy, teachers, and activists are spiraling
out of control.</p>
<p>Duterte has systematically silenced voices of political
dissent, jailing Senator Leila DeLima, an early drug war
critic; ousting Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria
Lourdes Sereno, who opposed the imposition of martial
law in Mindanao; and now arresting Maria Ressa,
internationally renowned journalist and executive editor
of the indy outlet <a title="Rappler"
href="https://www.rappler.com/" target="_blank"
rel="noopener noreferrer">Rappler</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, less known to U.S. audiences, Duterte has
dropped bombs on Philippine soil over <a
title="368,391"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/2018-Karapatan-HR-Report"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">368,391</a>
times — and some <a title="450,000"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/2018-Karapatan-HR-Report"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">450,000</a>
civilians have been displaced by militarization. After
scuttling peace talks with the <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="https://www.ndfp.org/">National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)</a>,
Duterte has jailed internationally protected peace
consultants. And in January, consultant Randy Malayao
was <a title="murdered"
href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/222301-human-rights-groups-statements-death-ndf-consultant-randy-malayao"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">murdered</a>
in cold blood by armed hit men.</p>
<p>Ever since the Philippines attained formal independence
in 1946, the U.S. has maintained a military presence on
its former colony, guiding and supporting
“counter-insurgency” operations to put down constant
rebellions against an oligarchic government. Today, the
Philippine armed forces overwhelmingly direct violence
not against outside invaders, but at poor and
marginalized people within its borders. U.S. military
aid is only making internal conflict worse.</p>
<p><strong>U.S. taxpayer funds are bankrolling the
worsening human rights crisis in the Philippines.</strong></p>
<p>Duterte’s repressive regime is the <a title="largest"
href="http://philippineslifestyle.com/military-aid-usa-philippines/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">largest</a>
recipient of U.S. military aid in Asia.</p>
<p>In 2016, the U.S. helped inaugurate Duterte’s drug war
by giving <a title="$32 million"
href="http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/27/1607298/us-pledges-32m-philippine-law-enforcement"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$32 million</a>
to the Philippine police (supposedly for “<a
title="training and services"
href="http://www.rappler.com/nation/147196-us-funding-philippines-law-enforcement"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">training and
services</a>” in “policing standards” and “rule of
law,” besides <a title="equipment"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/lig-oco-opep-0918.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">equipment</a>).
In July 2018, the United States announced an additional
<a title="$26.5 million"
href="https://ph.usembassy.gov/united-states-to-boost-counterterrorism-support-for-philippine-law-enforcement/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$26.5
million</a> in U.S. tax dollars to beef up support for
Philippine police, in the name of “counter-terrorism.”</p>
<p>In FY2018, the Defense Department provided <a
title="roughly $100 million"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">roughly $100
million</a> in military aid, including equipment,
weapons, and aerial surveillance systems, to the
Philippine military and police, though Operation Pacific
Eagle — a so-called “overseas contingency operation”
that is <a title="exempt"
href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44519.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">exempt</a>
from congressional limits on spending. The amount
demanded for this program will increase to <a
title="$108.2 million"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$108.2
million</a> for FY2019 — even as the Defense
Department has <a title="admitted"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">admitted</a>
it lost track of transactions for 76 of 77 arms sales
conducted under bilateral agreements with the
Philippines.</p>
<p>In 2018, on top of the above, the U.S. sold the
Philippine <a title="police"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">police</a>
and <a title="military"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2018-11/lig-oco-opep-0918.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">military</a>
over $63 million worth of arms. It also donated <a
title="2,253 machine guns"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2,253
machine guns</a>, over <a title="5 million"
href="https://ph.usembassy.gov/us-government-provides-millions-of-rounds-of-ammunition-to-the-armed-forces-of-the-philippines/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">5 million</a>
rounds of ammunition, surveillance equipment, and other
weapons. Military aid totaled at least $193.5 million
last year, <em>not</em>including arms sales, and
donated equipment of unreported worth. At least $145.6
million is already pledged for 2019.</p>
<p>In January, Trump authorized $1.5 billion for the Asian
Pacific region, including the Philippines, from 2019 to
2023. Although this appropriation includes a <a
title="stipulation"
href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/2736/text"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">stipulation</a>
that counter-narcotics funds will <em>not</em> go to
the Philippines (“except for drug demand reduction,” a
potential loophole), it’s too little, too late. The
set-aside has no restrictions on weapons funding for the
Philippine military. And separately, the State
Department already plans to deliver <a title="$5.3
million"
href="https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/290302.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$5.3 million</a>
this year to the Philippine police for anti-narcotics
activities. Worse, rampant corruption together with a
total lack of transparency means it’s hard to ensure
where military aid could actually end up.</p>
<p><strong>U.S. military equipment forms the backbone of
Duterte’s “military modernization” program.</strong></p>
<p>Although the above aid is tiny compared to the U.S.’s
own bloated military budget, this tremendous transfer of
weapons and surveillance technology is significant in
propping up the Philippine armed forces’ capacity.</p>
<p>Duterte has embarked on an ambitious program to
“modernize” the Philippine military, massively
increasing funding and pouring more money towards this
than spent in <a title="the last 15 years"
href="https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2018/10/21/1861787/afp-budget-biggest-ever?fbclid=IwAR0KDcJItqxS3Cr1OstUNZRG-SXtaCzJ75rlLaRy0HQ1-pIAM7S46fYFiEQ"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the last 15
years</a>. (Meanwhile, he’s <a title="doubled"
href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/01/09/18/cops-soldiers-other-uniformed-personnel-to-begin-receiving-doubled-pay"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">doubled</a>
the salaries of military and police.) He could not do so
without U.S. aid and arms.</p>
<p>For its part, the U.S. is particularly interested in <a
title="expanding"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expanding</a>
aerial “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance”
missions over Mindanao, the largest island in the
Southern Philippines, rich in untapped mineral
resources. Without U.S. aid, the Philippine military
would lack the airplanes and technology to perform this
surveillance.</p>
<p>What’s more, this year’s Operation Pacific Eagle budget
sets aside an extra <a title="$3.5 million"
href="https://oig.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/2019-02/OPEP_Q119_Dec2018_final.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$3.5 million</a>
for U.S. military efforts to collect and analyze “local
media in native languages” — underscoring that the U.S.
is striving for an upper hand in directing Philippine
military operations. And in winning an information war
over public opinion.</p>
<p>In recent years, the U.S. has had up to <a
title="5,000"
href="https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/your-marine-corps/2018/08/09/pentagon-triples-military-spending-in-philippines/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">5,000</a>
troops deployed in the Philippines at any one time.
Officially, U.S. troops are limited to “joint exercises”
and war games. But questions have been raised over <a
title="possible U.S. personnel"
href="https://www.manilatimes.net/us-soldier-among-dead/159838/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">possible
U.S. personnel</a> involvement in secretive missions,
resulting in killings of civilians and human rights
abuses.</p>
<p>In the case of the 2015 <a title="Mamasapano"
href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/82518-milf-fatalities-maguindanao-clash"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mamasapano</a>
<a title="massacre"
href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/669237/moro-group-7-civilians-killed-3-wounded-in-mamasapano-clash#ixzz3QJi1rF9KF"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">massacre</a>,
supposedly under the jurisdiction of Philippine police
and military only, hearings later <a title="uncovered"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2015/03/17/1434648/senate-report-confirms-us-involvement-mamasapano-operation"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">uncovered</a>
U.S. guidance and surveillance support, despite U.S. <a
title="denials"
href="https://www.mindanews.com/peace-process/2015/01/us-embassy-on-mamasapano-we-just-assisted-in-evacuation-of-dead-and-wounded/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">denials</a>.
Meanwhile, U.S. troops who themselves commit human
rights abuses, murder, or <a title="sexual assault"
href="https://books.google.com/books?id=u2HvCgAAQBAJ&lpg=PA90&ots=CIuNLhDOI3&dq=nicole%20subic%20bay%20settlement&pg=PA89#v=onepage&q=nicole%20subic%20bay%20settlement&f=false"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sexual
assault</a>, are insulated from being held accountable
by the U.S.-Philippines Visiting Forces Agreement.</p>
<p><strong>What are the consequences of the bonanza of
military aid for Duterte? </strong></p>
<p>The bottom line is, the U.S. government is complicit in
— and actively supporting — the deepening human rights
crisis in the Philippines.</p>
<p><a title="Police are"
href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2017-04/ASA3555172017ENGLISH.PDF?9_73DdFTpveG_iJgeK0U13KUVFHKSL_X"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Police are</a>
<a title="linked"
href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37172002"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">linked</a>
to the killings carried out by unidentified vigilantes
in the War on Drugs, and their <a title="corruption"
href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/philippines0317_web_1.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">corruption</a>
<a title="abounds"
href="https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2017-04/ASA3555172017ENGLISH.PDF?9_73DdFTpveG_iJgeK0U13KUVFHKSL_X"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">abounds</a>.
Besides tagging the unarmed people they have murdered as
“fighting back,” police have <a title="planted"
href="https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/philippines0317_web_1.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">planted</a>
evidence; <a title="sexually"
href="https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/673124/center-for-women-s-resources-police-abuses-vs-women-involve-mostly-rape/story/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sexually</a>
<a title="assaulted"
href="https://globalvoices.org/2018/11/02/a-15-year-old-rape-victim-is-the-latest-collateral-damage-of-dutertes-drug-war/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">assaulted</a>
<a title="women"
href="https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/regions/646615/pregnant-mother-accuses-4-bulacan-cops-of-gang-rape/story/?fbclid=IwAR3tFeYU-dWI--I5TDv9ZBgukJmf0hYiSS1Js33ZYPbc632iQYJeu4ZuX64"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">women</a> <a
title="and"
href="https://ph.theasianparent.com/pregnant-woman-raped-by-police"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and</a> <a
title="children"
href="https://www.philstar.com/nation/2018/10/29/1864004/cop-nabbed-rape-girl-15"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">children</a>,
in <a title="exchange"
href="http://nine.cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/11/08/pnp-charged-with-rape.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">exchange</a>
for release or dropping drug charges; and detained
people without charges and tortured them to extract
bribes, including through the use of <a title="secret"
href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/04/27/philippine-drug-war-spawns-unlawful-secret-jail"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">secret</a>
holding cells.</p>
<p>In addition to the drug war, repression is unfolding on
other fronts, as well. <a title="Twelve journalists"
href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1013357/22-journalists-killed-in-ph-under-duterte-administration-nujp"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twelve
journalists</a>were killed in the first two years
under Duterte — the highest number of murdered
journalists in the first two years in office of any
Philippine president. At least <a title="34 lawyers"
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/11/philippines-human-rights-lawyer-shot-dead-negros-island-181107072451909.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">34 lawyers</a>
have been assassinated, including Benjamin Ramos of the
National Union of People’s Lawyers, an attorney
representing the Sagay 9 — peasants, including women and
minors, massacred for trying to claim land they were
legally awarded.</p>
<p>At least <a title="48"
href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/25/18/under-duterte-philippines-ranked-asias-most-dangerous-country-for-environment-defenders"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">48</a>
environmental campaigners were murdered in 2017 alone,
making the Philippines the second most dangerous country
for environmentalists, after Brazil. By 2018, <a
title="14 massacres"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/2018-Karapatan-HR-Report"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">14 massacres</a>,
killings mostly of farmers who were fighting for land
reform, were perpetrated by police, military, or
paramilitaries.</p>
<p>Labor leaders are being slaughtered using tactics
similar to those in the drug war. Edilberto Miralles,
president of R&E Taxi Transport union, was <a
title="shot in broad daylight"
href="https://www.philstar.com/metro/2016/09/24/1626784/union-leader-gunned-down"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">shot in
broad daylight</a> in front of the National Labor
Relations Commission in 2016. Linus Cubol, chair of
Kilusang Mayo Uno in Caraga, was <a title="murdered"
href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/217768-labor-leader-agusan-del-norte-killed-november-27-2018"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">murdered</a>
in November by vigilantes riding in tandem. Police <a
title="brutally beat"
href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/208497-nutriasia-guards-violent-dispersal-protesters-july-30-2018"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">brutally
beat</a> peacefully picketing NutriAsia workers on
strike and their supporters, <a title="wounding"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2018/08/06/nanay-leti-grandmother-stood-solidarity-nutriasia-workers/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wounding</a>
<a title="scores"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2018/06/14/20-arrested-scores-wounded-violent-dispersal-nutriasia-strike/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">scores</a>;
then they charged the picketers with assault, <a
title="planted weapons"
href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/news/08/02/18/man-with-gun-drugs-allegedly-planted-among-nutriasia-protesters"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">planted
weapons</a>, and attempted to suppress journalists’
coverage of the dispersal.</p>
<p>Under Duterte, over <a title="134"
href="https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/iq/222796-human-rights-defenders-killed-under-duterte-administration"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">134</a>
human rights defenders have been killed. In just one
case, in 2017, Elisa Badayos and Eleuterio Moises were <a
title="murdered"
href="https://www.philstar.com/nation/2017/11/29/1763667/2-members-fact-finding-mission-negros-killed-1-injured"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">murdered</a>
while serving on a fact-finding team investigating human
rights violations due to militarization in Negros
Oriental.</p>
<p>Since 2017, Duterte has imposed martial law on
Mindanao. Increasing militarization is resulting in
rampant abuses against indigenous and Moro people.
Aerial “surveillance” missions already make up the bulk
of U.S. aid to the Philippine military. Most likely in
direct relation, bombings in Mindanao have escalated —
particularly over indigenous lands, causing mass
evacuations. Simultaneously, reminiscent of
U.S.-sponsored tactics in Latin America resulting in
indigenous genocide, the Philippine military, together
with <a title="paramilitary groups"
href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/09/23/philippines-paramilitaries-attack-tribal-villages-schools"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">paramilitary
groups</a> it <a title="arms"
href="https://www.icj.org/the-philippines-must-get-rid-of-its-militias-now/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">arms</a> and
<a title="guides"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/AFP%2C+DND+asks+for+bigger+budget+to+fund+its+paramilitaries"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">guides</a>,
are terrorizing indigenous communities. The military has
recruited and even forced indigenous people to become
paramilitaries as a means of divide-and-conquer.</p>
<p>Indigenous groups’ resistance is at the forefront of
the struggle against climate change, both in the
Philippines and globally. Now, their lands, such as
those in Mindanao’s Pantaron Range, are some of the few
remaining to be opened up to extractive logging and
mining by multinational corporations. The militarization
of indigenous lands, purportedly in the name of
counterinsurgency, seeks to quell this organized
community <a title="opposition"
href="https://intercontinentalcry.org/thousands-march-killings-indigenous-peoples-philippine-mining-capital/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">opposition</a>
to corporate land-grabbing and environmental
degradation.</p>
<p>Education is a <a title="center"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2014/12/01/the-lumad-school-on-pantaron-range/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">center</a>
of <a title="community"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2015/10/21/alcadev-the-school-that-feeds-minds-and-communities/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community</a>
<a title="resistance"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2018/12/01/context-of-talaingod-incident-the-decades-old-struggle-of-lumad-in-pantaron-mountain-range-for-ancestral-land-right-to-self-determination/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">resistance</a>
— and <a title="now"
href="http://ibon.org/2017/03/lumad-schools-under-attack-in-mineral-rich-mindanao/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">now</a> <a
title="repression"
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/scary-indigenous-schools-feel-heat-restive-mindanao-181211031536969.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">repression</a>
as well.</p>
<p>The military and paramilitaries are targeting
indigenous <a title="community"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/11/1831716/lumad-schools-even-holding-class-struggle"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">community</a>
<a title="schools"
href="http://ibon.org/2017/03/lumad-schools-under-attack-in-mineral-rich-mindanao/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">schools</a>
— turning their grounds into military encampments,
shooting teachers and students, bombing the schools – to
force their closure. Indigenous children and their
teachers are the victims of this campaign.</p>
<p>In September 2017, Obello Bay-ao, a student at
Salugpongan’s school in Dulyan, Talaingod, was <a
title="killed"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/Two+members+of+paramilitary+group+charged+with+murder+of+Lumad+student+"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">killed</a>
by Alamara paramilitaries while walking home from
farming. He was shot 24 times in the back. In the same
community, another 15-year-old student was <a
title="gunned down"
href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/01/19/16/lumad-student-allegedly-killed-by-paramilitary-member"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gunned down</a>
by Alamara in 2016, while a 14-year-old girl reported
being <a title="gang raped"
href="https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/719073/3-soldiers-tagged-in-rape-of-manobo-girl"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gang raped</a>
by soldiers in 2015.</p>
<p>In May 2018, Beverly Geronimo, a teacher of indigenous
children, was <a title="gunned"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2018/05/27/suspected-elements-25th-ibpa-murder-mother-misfi-student/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gunned</a> <a
title="down"
href="http://davaotoday.com/main/human-rights/lumad-school-student-wounded-mother-shot-dead-in-agusan-del-sur/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">down</a> in
Trento, Agusan del Sur while buying school supplies. In
November 2018, four teachers, Tema Namatidong, Julius
Torregosa, Ariel Barluado, and Giovanni Solomon, were <a
title="abducted"
href="http://www.chrp.org.uk/2018/two-weeks-in-mindanao-two-farmers-shot-four-teachers-abducted-five-students-tortured-and-a-family-assaulted-2/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">abducted</a>
by the military in Lanao del Sur.</p>
<p>The <a title="list"
href="https://www.karapatan.org/2018-Karapatan-HR-Report"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">list</a> of
<a title="atrocities"
href="http://www.chrp.org.uk/2018/two-weeks-in-mindanao-two-farmers-shot-four-teachers-abducted-five-students-tortured-and-a-family-assaulted-2/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">atrocities</a>
continues. In June 2018, <a title="72"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/11/1831716/lumad-schools-even-holding-class-struggle"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">72</a>
schools were unable to hold classes because of military
harassment. <a title="Over"
href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/12/scary-indigenous-schools-feel-heat-restive-mindanao-181211031536969.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Over</a> <a
title="2,000"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/11/1831716/lumad-schools-even-holding-class-struggle"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2,000</a>
indigenous students could not attend school because of
nearby military encampments.</p>
<p>The schools under attack are part of a <a
title="movement"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/11/1831716/lumad-schools-even-holding-class-struggle"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">movement</a>
led by indigenous groups, together with NGOs and church
partners, to provide relevant education for their youth,
a service largely neglected by the government. <a
title="Ninety percent"
href="https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2017/03/18/1679995/lumads-sustain-fight-save-their-schools"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ninety
percent</a> of indigenous children lack access to
formal education. In the 2000s, indigenous communities <a
title="established"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2014/12/01/the-lumad-school-on-pantaron-range/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">established</a>
<a title="schools"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2015/10/21/alcadev-the-school-that-feeds-minds-and-communities/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">schools</a>
in <a title="conjunction"
href="https://www.bulatlat.com/2018/12/01/context-of-talaingod-incident-the-decades-old-struggle-of-lumad-in-pantaron-mountain-range-for-ancestral-land-right-to-self-determination/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conjunction</a>
with their struggles for self-determination, in hopes
that education would help protect them from
land-grabbing. The military has sought to brand
community schools as “training camps” for communist
insurgents, recently launching Facebook campaigns
towards this purpose.</p>
<p>U.S. military aid is intensifying the conflict in
Mindanao, exacerbating its impact on civilians. U.S.
investment in aerial surveillance will escalate an air
war that has a brutal and indiscriminate effect on
people as well as the environment. The integration of
“intelligence” activity in counter-terrorism is
dangerous. It will likely worsen repression against
anyone organizing for indigenous, labor, and human
rights — feeding a growing bloodbath as paramilitaries
are employed to undermine these local struggles, while
providing cover for government troops to escape
accountability.</p>
<p>Today’s violence is inseparable from the U.S.’s
imperial shadow. The drug war is a purge of humans
deemed worthless in a society where social safety nets
were never allowed to be developed, where the failure of
neoliberal economic reforms now plays into the hands of
despotism, and where U.S.-backed elites regularly employ
state-paid goons to undermine democracy.</p>
<p>Placed in historical context, Mindanao, and those lands
of indigenous communities under attack, were some of the
last outposts resisting Spanish and U.S. rule. The
islands — dubbed by <a title="Trump"
href="https://www.newsweek.com/prime-piece-real-estate-trumps-verdict-philippines-711040"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Trump</a> “a
prime piece of real estate from a military standpoint” —
have long served as a stepping stone towards U.S.
aspirations of dominance in the Asia-Pacific. U.S.
military aid continues a long process of “pacification”
— and colonial conquest, now unfolding in neocolonial
forms.</p>
<p><strong>People’s movements in the Philippines are
calling for international solidarity, to end the
U.S.-backed militarization of their communities. </strong></p>
<p>They demand also peace with justice — a peace process
that adopts structural reforms like those outlined in <a
title="CASER"
href="https://www.ndfp.org/sayt/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/NDFP-CASER-2017-Web-version-Ver2.0.pdf"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CASER</a>, a
program the NDFP sought to reach agreement on
implementing via peace talks, that includes land reform,
rescinding neoliberal economic policies, and respecting
indigenous land and self-determination.</p>
<p>In 2016, <a title="Sandugo" href="http://sandugo.org/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sandugo</a>,
a historic alliance of indigenous and Moro groups from
across the Philippines, formed, uniting for
self-determination and a just peace. Three thousand
delegates met in Manila, and protesters converged on the
<a title="U.S. embassy"
href="https://truthout.org/articles/moro-and-indigenous-peoples-forge-historic-alliance-for-self-determination/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. embassy</a>,
under a banner calling for an end to U.S. intervention
and militarization. At the gates of the U.S. embassy,
the Philippine police responded by beating people
indiscriminately, and a <a title="police van ran over
the crowd"
href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/19/philippines-police-van-rams-protesters-outside-us-embassy-in-manila"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">police van
ran over the crowd</a>, injuring dozens.</p>
<p>Three years later, the call to end U.S. military aid
and lift martial law continues.</p>
<p>In terms of the drug war, one of the first groups to
come out in vocal opposition was <a title="Kadamay"
href="https://www.facebook.com/kadamaynational/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kadamay</a>,
a mass-based organization of urban poor people. Instead
of killings, Kadamay has called for addressing poverty
and the root causes of the drug problem — in short, for
drug addiction to be treated as a health, not criminal,
issue. More recently, an organization of family members
of those killed in the drug war has formed, <a
title="Rise Up For Life and Rights"
href="https://www.facebook.com/Rise-Up-for-Life-and-for-Rights-363258137385786/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rise Up For
Life and Rights</a>.</p>
<p><strong>When the Philippine Senate tried to </strong><a
title="restrict funding"
href="https://www.rappler.com/nation/189915-philippine-senate-approves-2018-national-budget"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>restrict
funding</strong></a><strong> for Duterte’s drug war
in late 2017, the U.S. </strong><a title="stepped in"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/20/1835100/philippines-receive-27-million-counterterror-aid-us"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>stepped
in</strong></a><strong> to provide funds that filled
the shortfall.</strong></p>
<p>To evade accountability, Duterte has <a
title="shifted"
href="http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2017/11/30/Senate-2018-budget-slashes-drug-war-funds-from-PNP-DILG.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">shifted</a>
drug war operations from under the Philippine National
Police (PNP) to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
and <a title="back"
href="https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2017/12/05/1765784/pnp-back-drug-war-pdea-still-lead-agency"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">back</a> to
the PNP’s general operation funds. Recently, he <a
title="eliminated"
href="http://nine.cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/08/30/PNP-drug-war-Oplan-Double-Barrel-budget.html"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">eliminated</a>
keeping a separate budget item for the drug war —
obscuring how much money is being expended on it. The
Philippine Congress has not been able to provide
effective oversight.</p>
<p>The continuing drug war killings and rampant human
rights abuses only underscore that there is no way to
ensure U.S. military aid to the Duterte regime does <em>not
</em>enable human rights violations. For its part, U.S.
military spending is not only overblown, but also often
untraceable, secretive, and unaccountable. From Central
America to Palestine to the Philippines, U.S. military
aid has a sordid legacy of fueling atrocities.</p>
<p><strong>A growing movement is calling on Congress to
cut military aid, arms gifts, and arm sales to the
Philippines — </strong><strong>as well as to end
support for the Duterte regime.</strong></p>
<p>The Leahy Law, which stipulates no funding shall be
furnished to foreign security forces if the U.S. knows
they have committed “a gross violation of human rights,”
needs upheld with regard to the Philippines. (For more
information on this campaign, please visit: <a
title="ichrpus.org." href="https://ichrpus.org/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ichrpus.org.</a></p>
<p>In <a title="2007"
href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-110shrg40811/html/CHRG-110shrg40811.htm"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2007</a>,
due to movement pressure, Congress held a hearing on <a
title="rising"
href="https://www.thenation.com/article/how-us-aid-fosters-human-rights-violations-philippines/"
target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rising</a>
extrajudicial killings in the Philippines under Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo’s regime. Legislation was passed
placing restrictions on military aid. The next year,
killings decreased significantly.</p>
<p>Our time to act is now.</p>
<p><em><strong>Amee Chew</strong> has a Ph.D. in American
Studies & Ethnicity, and is a Mellon-ACLS Public
Fellow.</em></p>
<p><em>A version of this article first appeared on <a
href="https://fpif.org/">Foreign Policy in Focus</a>.</em></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://freedomarchives.org/">https://freedomarchives.org/</a>
</div>
</body>
</html>