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Vol. 80/No. 39 October 17, 2016
Washington’s ‘pivot’ to Asia hits snag with new Philippine regime
BY MARK THOMPSON
As part of the Barack Obama administration’s “pivot” to Asia to counter
the growing power of China, Washington has been expanding its air, naval
and military forces in the Pacific. This includes re-establishing a
military presence in the Philippines, a former colony and strategic
ally. But this part of the pivot has become less dependable since the
May election of President Rodrigo Duterte, whose politics are marked by
nationalist and anti-American demagogy.
At the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Laos,
Duterte called Obama a “son of a bitch” — for which he later apologized
— and a few days later announced he was canceling any future joint naval
patrols with Washington in the South China Sea.
“Philippines Pivots Away from the US” and “America’s Pacific Pivot Is
Sinking,” noted headlines in the Sept. 14 and 19 Financial Times. “China
is now in power, and they have military superiority in the region,”
Duterte said that week.
Duterte was elected May 9, getting the highest total with 38 percent of
the vote. Running as the “anti-establishment” candidate, he mixed
profanity-laced nationalist speeches, promises to ease poverty and a
pledge to use violence and murder to end rising crime and drug trafficking.
Duterte has long-standing relations with Stalinist political forces in
the Philippines. He is backed by the leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan
(Bayan), which has accepted posts in the government.
Duterte presided over hundreds of “anti-crime” killings during his years
as mayor of Davao.
He has said that if the Supreme Court or anyone else seeks to curtail
his murderous war against drug-induced crime, he will impose martial
law. But he intends no inroads against capitalist rule.
Business friendly
By “assuring there is peace and order,” Carlos Dominguez, Duterte’s
governmental finance officer, told Bloomberg News, “he has been business
friendly.”
Dominguez, who owns the Marco Polo Hotel in Davao, said the government
will work to assure “business regulations are not restrictive.”
The Philippines, a colony of Spain, was seized by emerging U.S.
imperialism in 1898. Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos were killed over
the next few years resisting U.S. military occupation. Following
independence in 1946, Washington maintained its military presence and
backed a succession of semicolonial regimes, including the brutal
Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship that ruled for over two decades, most
under martial law.
The U.S. rulers viewed supremacy in Asia and the Pacific as the spoils
of its bloody victory over Japan in the second worldwide imperialist
war. It established military bases throughout the area, patrolled by the
U.S. Pacific Fleet. Next to Hawaii, home of the Pacific Command, the
Philippines played a pivotal role. The Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark
Air Base there were the largest U.S. bases outside its borders. Both
were logistical hubs for Washington’s wars in Korea, Vietnam and the
first Iraq War.
Under the impact of its defeat in Vietnam, Washington’s ability to
control the region against anti-colonial revolts weakened. In the
Philippines a mass rebellion toppled Marcos in 1986. Sustained popular
protests continued against the U.S. military bases, and in 1991 the
Philippine Senate refused to ratify a new treaty for their lease.
Washington was ordered to leave the next year. As China’s economy and
reach has grown, Beijing began building military bases on reefs
throughout the South China Sea, including off the Philippine coast.
In response, Washington has sought to shift the weight of its armed
forces to the Pacific, opening new bases, increasing military exercises
in the region and positioning 60 percent of its naval warships there by
2020. Countering Beijing in the South China Sea has been a centerpiece
of Washington’s course.
Since 2002, some 500 U.S. troops have been stationed in the southern
Philippines, conducting operations against Abu Sayyaf, an Islamist
terrorist group. Another 6,000 U.S. military personnel have been engaged
in ongoing training exercises. U.S. naval visits have increased.
In January, the Philippines began implementing a military pact that
would allow thousands of U.S. troops and military equipment to be
stationed at Philippine bases, opening the way for Washington to
re-establish a large-scale military presence. In March the two countries
began joint naval patrols in the South China Sea.
But Duterte says that he intends to pursue “an independent foreign
policy.” While abiding by Manila’s treaties with Washington, he wants to
“open alliances” with Beijing and Moscow as well. “The Philippines is
not a vassal state. We have long ceased to be a colony of the United
States,” he said Sept. 5.
Duterte announced Sept. 12 that he wants U.S. forces to withdraw from
the southern Philippines. And as joint military exercises were preparing
to get underway in early October, he said that they would be the last,
because “China does not want” them.
War on drugs targets workers
A hallmark of Duterte’s election campaign was the pledge to wage a war
on drug sellers and users. “Do your duty, and if in the process you
kill,” he told police officers July 1, the day after his inauguration,
“I will protect you.”
Since then, over 3,500 people have been murdered by police or
police-organized vigilantes in this “war on drugs.” Some 20,000 have
been arrested, cramming the country’s already grossly overcrowded jails.
Those targeted in this campaign are overwhelmingly working people.
In this atmosphere, seven union leaders and activists were killed in
vigilante murders in September.
Following his inauguration, Duterte’s government declared a cease-fire
and opened negotiations with the Communist Party of the Philippines and
the two main armed organizations fighting for the rights of Filipino
Muslims, known as Moros, in the south. The armed wing of the Maoist CP,
the New People’s Army, is reported to have dwindled to less than 4,000
from 26,000 in the 1980s. Its activity today centers on assassination,
extortion and kidnapping in parts of the countryside.
Duterte has included figures associated with the CP in his cabinet,
saying he wants an “inclusive government.” The CP has praised him for
“standing up” to Washington. It has also backed his “anti-crime” campaign.
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