The Philippines, America and her CIA
Posted on Sunday, 2 October 2016
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.)
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