PANA Institute for Leadership Development

Written as an editorial opinion by PSR student Reverend Israel I. Alvaran and submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle. Rev. Alvaran is a minister in the United Methodist Church, and a graduate student at Pacific School of Religion.

Marcos. Imelda. Ninoy. Cory.  Larger than life characters dominate the drama of Philippine politics.  Ferdinand Marcos, the dictator who declared martial law 36 years ago this week.  Imelda, his wife, who horded thousands of shoes and scorned the poor.  Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, the patriot shot dead on the tarmac upon his return to the Philippines after years of exile.  Cory Aquino, the reluctant yellow-clad widow rallying the masses in "People Power."  In recalling the dark days of martial law and the massive uprising which followed, the history books and newscasts have burned these images into our minds and written a classic tale about good versus evil.However, this story of the Filipino people's quest for a free, democratic Philippine nation has been cleansed of a major antagonist: the U.S. government.

Last month marked the 25th anniversary of Ninoy Aquino's assassination.  Ironically, Aquino might still be alive today had it not been for the U.S.  Throughout the Marcos dictatorship, the U.S. government poured millions of dollars into the Philippine military, which committed stomach-turning human rights violations against activists and opposition politicians.  It did not matter that the country was under martial law, as long as Marcos allowed U.S. bases to operate freely and American corporations to uproot hundreds of thousands of people to make way for oil and mineral exploration.  Everyone knew that Marcos had ordered Aquino's assassination.  When People Power finally forced Marcos to flee, the dictator took refuge in the U.S., living out his remaining days in a luxurious mansion in Hawaii. 

The Reagan administration publically condemned the execution of Aquino, while slipping the assassin a cool million behind the scenes.

What makes this story all the more tragic is that the U.S. has continually poured millions of dollars into regime after regime, despite widespread government corruption and military adventurism.

The U.S. remains on the wrong side of history today, with its steadfast backing of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  Reports by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Philippine-based Karapatan Human Rights Alliance have condemned the Arroyo administration for its campaign to silence dissent.  Arroyo's military has received tens of millions of dollars in aid from the U.S. every year since 2002—more than any other Philippine president after Corazon Aquino--despite racking up a body count of over 900 extra-judicial killings of opposition activists, journalists, and clergy. 

An ordained United Methodist minister and activist since 1992, I was granted political asylum in the U.S. last year.  I applied for asylum after learning that my name was on a military dossier, a known precursor to harassment, death threats, and eventually murder.  Twenty-four church workers have been slain since Arroyo came to power in 2001, with the killing of the vocal opposition leader and human rights advocate Bishop Alberto Ramento in 2006 being among the most brazen.  I know union leaders who were killed in Cavite, and my home campus, the Union Theological Seminary, is under surveillance by the military.  It is no coincidence that the seminary provides sanctuary to persons displaced by military raids in the provinces. 

Last year, I attended an international conference in Washington D.C. and a U.S. Senate hearing on the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.  In response to this international outcry, the number of outright killings has declined, but the Philippine military seems to have switched to the slow burn tactic of enforced disappearances: abducting activists and holding them in unknown locations for undeclared offenses.  The list of disappeared activists last seen in the hands of military personnel topped 200 people this year, and continues to climb.

Having mastered the use of killings and disappearances, President Arroyo may turn to another tactic from the Marcos playbook: the declaration martial rule.  Two weeks ago, former Philippine Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz warned that given the current situation of all-out war in the southern Philippines and anonymous bombings in urban areas, "It's better to be on the extra side of caution" because Arroyo could easily pull a Marcos and declare martial law.  With her approval rating at an all-time low and members of her own cabinet and even some high level military advisors breaking ranks with Arroyo, the president's ability to stay in power depends on the political and economic backing of the U.S. 

In its 2008 foreign aid package, Congress took a positive first step to address the violence, by requiring Arroyo to demonstrate efforts to investigate the extrajudicial killings before a small portion of her aid package would be released.  However, the limited restrictions have been sorely inadequate, as no one has been prosecuted for even a single killing.  The worsening human rights situation, the all-out war between the Philippine military and Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao which has evicted over 230,000 people from their villages, skyrocketing inflation, and deepening poverty of the nation assures us that a new People Power uprising is inevitable.

President Arroyo will be visiting the U.S. this week.  She will undoubtedly try to make the case for more aid.  As it considers its aid package to the Philippines for 2008-09, Congress should take a stand on the right side of history for a change, and withhold all aid to the corrupt and murderous Arroyo regime.  U.S. taxpayers are already being asked to foot the bill for the $700 billion bailout on Wall Street; they shouldn't have to finance human rights violations in the Philippines as well.

Reverend Israel I. Alvaran
United Methodist Church Minister and
Interfaith and Community Organizer (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California)
209 Golden Gate Avenue, San Francisco
Office Phone:  415.863.1142
ialvaran@clueca.org