The Philippines, America and her CIA

THE PHILIPPINES, AMERICA AND HER CIA

(Blog/installment #1)

By Apolinario Villalobos

 

I found an interesting dual-titled book, “The Marcoses and the Making of American Policy/ Waltzing with A Dictator” by Raymond Bonner, in of all places – a junk shop! As I am no Marcos fan, I set it aside for a long time and came across it again when I was cleaning my files just recently. I even thought of selling it at a tempting price to a Marcos book collector. At first, I only literally browsed through it, but before reaching the mid-section of the 533-paged book, my attention caught the passages on the life of the couple, Ferdinand and Imelda, Manifest Destiny, American Senate, Philippine election, Vietnam, CIA, etc. I finally, decided to seriously go through the pages and I was taken aback by so many “discoveries” about how the Philippine government has been fiddled with by America, making me think that it could still be happening today, to put Duterte down.

 

Here are some interesting quoted passages:

 

Chapter 2/ page 28: “America acquired the Philippines (along with Guam, Puerto Rico and Cuba) as part of the spoils of its war against Spain, a war fought in pursuit of the country’s “Manifest Destiny”. (There was deceit during the so-called “American-Spanish War”. The Filipinos, at the last minute, were not allowed to participate to prevent the ensuing of an “honest-to-goodness” fight against the Spaniards by Aguinaldo and his soldiers who came home from Hongkong for this purpose. As planned by the Americans and Spaniards holed up inside Intramuros, and as part of “negotiation”, there should only be a short exchange of shots, before the white flag shall be held up high by one of the Spaniards on the Intramuros bastion facing Manila Bay, thereby, preventing the unnecessary loss of lives on both the side of the Americans and Spaniards. The “drama” also saved the face of the Spaniards from the shame of cowardice or outright surrender without putting up a fight.)

 

“Filipinos generally were most appreciative of Dewey and the Americans for having tossed out the Spanish…. But that didn’t mean they were anxious for another colonial master. Under the leadership of Emilio Aguinaldo, they took up against the Americans. Aguinaldo is dismissed in American history as a “rebel”; his guerilla was, which is most certainly was, as an “insurrection”….(When the July 4 marked as Independence Day to correlate with America’s was changed to June 12 which was the date when Aguinaldo declared the Philippine Independence at Kawit (Cavite), America’s ill-feeling toward the Philippines took root.)

 

Page 29:     “It was a dirty war, marked by racism and atrocities. The Filipinos were considered “savages”, barbarians, a wild and ignorant people”. Entire towns were burned to the ground; in one village every male over ten years old was ordered shot.” (This passage shows how atrocious America can be in realizing her “dream” of “civilizing” a people who, to her are savages and barbarians! It was during this time that water torture was introduced by the Americans to the Filipinos as a form of painful punishment…right in front of their families!)

 

“The war was fought for businessmen who wanted new profits; generals who wanted bases; and other Americans who just wanted to do good – the “white man’s burden”, as Rudyard Kipling wrote in 1899.” (This passage is an exposition on the greed that underlines the supposedly noble intentions of America in gripping the throat of the Filipinos, despite which she wants the Filipinos to show gratitude to her deceptive intent.)

 

“The country’s Constitution, which had to be approved by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was virtually a rewrite of the American Constitution.” (Despite the two revisions, the Philippine Constitution is still tinged with a heavy color of American influence, that is why there is a need to totally change it, and this time, Congress is working on it, hopefully for its transformation into a federal system which suits in all aspect the various cultures of the Filipinos and the character or lay out of the archipelago.)

 

Page 30:  “ ….While the Philippine President was the commander in chief….whenever he deemed necessary in order to prevent violence, invasion, insurrection, or rebellion or when the public safety required, he could legally place the Philippines or any part thereof under martial law. It was this provision that Marcos was to invoke in 1972….” (That is how Marcos found out he can be a dictator at all cost.)

 

“….writes Robert Pringle, a career Foreign Service officer with a doctorate in Southeast Asian history who served in the Philippines in the early 1970s. In a scholarly book Pringle says: ‘Myth number one is that we created democracy in the Philippines; that our colonialism was more enlightened than European colonialism, both in its motivations and its consequences. In fact, American rule bolstered a preexisting landed elite, encouraging it to express itself through representative forms…”(So, now we have political dynasties that virtually eats up the supposedly democratic system of the government!)

 

Page 32: “….Filipinos were incensed by the Philippine Trade Act which passed by the US Congress in 1946 and set the terms of the economic relationship between the two countries. ….its provisions were far more favorable to Americans.  The provision that most rankled was the one which gave Americans the same rights as Filipinos to exploit the island’s agricultural and mineral resources and to own and operate public utilities. The “parity” clause violated the Philippine Constitution which mandated that Filipinos must own 60% of any business engaged in the development of the country’s natural resources. Under pressure from the United States, the Philippine Legislature approved a constitutional amendment – after expelling on specious grounds leftist members who opposed it”. (The passage refers to the expulsion of the group of Luis Taruc who was elected by the people to Congress. Luis Taruc was identified with the HUK, shortened from HUKBALAHAP (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon) that originally fought the Japanese invaders but later reduced to insurgent group due to their disappointment at the dereliction of the Philippine government in granting the promises made after their surrender. And, it is very unfortunate that until today, many Filipinos think that America is very GENEROUS toward the Philippines! )

 

There are many more passages pointing to how America exploited the Philippines. More will be shared on how the CIA came into the picture….and how their “tactics” exploited even the deep religiosity of the Filipinos.

 

The meddling of the Americans in the affairs of the Philippines even went as far as the expulsion of Marcos and the installation of Cory Aquino. Today, tongues are wagging if America is also doing something through the CIA, to deface Duterte, as the agency is said to be expert in coming up with manipulative documentaries. CIA agents are known to infiltrate organizations. Such assumptions are in the face of the obvious orchestrated “tactics” in connivance with Filipino personalities who, perhaps, are trembling at the president’s vocally- expressed threat of their eventual persecution…add to their number the drug lords who are already hurting from the jabs of the president. To make the covert obvious, from all angles, manipulations are emanating from America, simultaneously with those coming right within the Philippines.

 

Note: Underlines provided to some statements are mine, as well as, the commentaries that are enclosed in parenthesis.)