Mike Cohen
WHAT WE FILIPINOS SHOULD KNOW: To be a poor country with a people in disunity and possessing a "damaged" culture, and with a leadership perennially characterized by mendicant attitude (foremost among others that are all detrimental to the homeland); only invite abuses, insults and disrespect from foreigners and foreign nations; even from America -the country which due to our ignorance of history, we still consider and cherish- with our usual naive sentimentality and endless "utang na loob"- as having special relations with us (do we recognize it's still between Master and Slave - the plantation mentality?).
(please see:http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/07/sentimentality-and-naivete-one-of-our.html)
Due to neglect of our own history and that of the world and consequent ignorance, we Filipinos never learn that international relationships are not the same as personal relationships; that so-called friendships between nations are not the equivalent to personal friendships. All self-respecting nations look only and primarily after their own national interests which is understandable; in this regard our country- not truly a nation since we are not a united people- consistently fail.
The disrespect for us Filipinos and our homeland is demonstrated by the ongoings of the Subic Rape Case. In a previous post, I predicted it will be a whitewash, as all crimes/offenses by the members of the US military went in the past decades, eversince the US bases were established.
But now, even with the bases gone, we still are having the same problems with the US military, thanks to the VFA approved by our mendicant national leadership (voted into office by a mainly uninformed majority).
Another whitewash? I still hope I will be proven wrong this time.
(please see: http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/11/us-military-rape-case-tests-philippine.html,
http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/11/bilateral-immunity-agreements-so.html,
http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/11/status-of-forces-agreement-sofa-status.html,
http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/11/us-troops-here-to-stay-important.html,
http://thefilipinomind.blogspot.com/2005/11/u.html)
Below is a short commentary, posted on PREDA, on the Subic Rape Case.
“The HISTORY of an oppressed people is hidden in the lies and the agreed myth of its conquerors.” - Meridel Le Sueur, American writer, 1900-1996
"Neocolonialism - The dominance of strong nations over weak nations, not by direct political control (as in traditional colonialism), but by economic and cultural influence."
“The true Filipino is a decolonized Filipino.” – Renato Constantino
"What luck for rulers that men do not think" - Adolf Hitler
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AMERICAN MILITARISM: Commercial sex for U.S. troops now a crime
Mike Cohen
Commercial sex for U.S. troops now a crime under an Oct 14th Presidential Order amending Article 134 of the UCMJ - note the date - Since Oct 14th US forces are barred from soliciting, frequenting, being near districts where human trafficking and prostitution happens.
Per the 2005 US State Department Report on Human Trafficking the area where the Commander of the USS Essex Battle group allowed the members of Navy and Marine unit to go ashore in November for "R&R" aka; Subic and Olongapo City.
The Report is supplied to all US fleet officers. Per my sources here in Military Law who are reviewing the Subic case- "This is an Article 3 violation of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) for allowing his men in November - a month after a Commander-in-Chief (CIC) order issued in time of war - to go ashore, party, and, enjoy."Meaning PACOM Legal officers - unless they too want to face an Article 3 violation must by UCMJ instigate a command inquiry into the Fleet commander's actions.
In simple civilian terms- the guy in charge disobeyed a presidential order- by merely allowing the "Liberty call-Liberty call" order to be issued.Those were words "Liberty call-Liberty call" were given per the ships PA system overheard from shore. Meaning - by allowing a liberty tour in a places where what happens, happens, when sailors and marines go ashore... Was a direct violation of a Presidential order in time of war.
Ergo- now you know why so much care is being taken in this next Balikatan Excercise that as early as December the new sections of Article 134 - RE: human trafficking and prostitution have now been posted in every base and station of the PA Command.
But, sadly, there has been no Judge Advocate General (JAG) team investigation, no derogatory remark issued or any other word of a court martial for the men responsible for the "Liberty call". I am not discussing anything to do with the Subic case pending before the courts- here- what I am asking is why has there not been any sanctions versus a fleet commander for deliberate actions - that violated the UCMJ. And an order of his CIC.
That's the truth; can you handle it?Where is Tom Cruise when you need him...?
The strange thing is it seems to me that no US media outlet really wants to report what happened in Subic.
If one looks at the Aruba incident where a US teenager on a high school trip went missing, or the report on a man who was allegedly killed on a cruise ship in turkey, and any other major story on crimes vs. Americans overseas. In those cases - AP, The NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, reported it to no end in print. CNN, Fox, and, MSNBC fall over themselves to repeat and report on for hours on end. Now the CNN I see here the one I'm talking about is CNN US ok- or - with what some call XNN w/ Lou Dobbs - the Xenophobic News Network.
Which thank God almighty you don’t see in Asia or elsewhere!
Now here when it’s a American accused of the crime commited overseas unless they happen to be celeb- when one the U.S. is accused of doing wrong overseas - there is - Nada, nothing, or something of that nature- a policy of ignorance almost.
Now had these accused Marines who by Philippine law are innocent until proven guilty, I mean had they been accused what they allegedly did in an American City - Wow! you would see endless press coverage in the USA; And I wonder had the victim been blond and blue eyed well then- every US network would be all over this case perhaps? Or had.
Heaven forbid foreign troops training in the US even been accused of being near when such an alleged incident occured- had such a thing happend.... I wonder what U.S. networks, papers, or media would have reported on that.So there it is for you my friends over there...It's mostly a little story here- "Not on the radar" says more than one foreign editor I sent coverage offers into- "It's not a story in good old U.S.A.?" Why? Because the alleged victim isn't American- or so I'm told. [End]
Source: http://preda.org/home.htm
PREDA is a charitable organization founded since the year 1974 in Olongapo City, Philippines. Its main goal and purpose is to promote and protect the dignity and the Human Rights of the Filipino people especially of women and children. The main focus of our work is to assist the sexually-exploited & abused children and provide for them an environment of acceptance and understanding in society. We are dedicated to changing the unjust structures in society that oppress, exploit & deny justice and human rights to children & women. We are a small but pro-active, not-for-profit organization with partners throughout the world networking with us to realize our goals and dreams of a better world for children.
“There is no higher RELIGION than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.'' - Albert Schweitzer, 1875-1965, German Born Medical Missionary, Theologian, Musician, and Philosopher
“I helped the poor and they called me a saint, I asked why they were poor and they called me a Communist’ – Brazilian Bishop Helder Camara (1909-1999)
“Nations, whose NATIONALISM is destroyed, are subject to ruin.” - Colonel Muhammar Qaddafi, 1942-, Libyan Political and Military Leader
"Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog ng ating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at pamumuhay. Kailangan ang rebolusyon, hindi lamang sa panlabas, kundi lalo na sa panloob!" --Apolinario Mabini, La Revolucion Filipina (1898)
Bert,
ReplyDeleteYou have a full blogsite and I envy you.
Keep it up..
Invite more pinoys to read it.
Tony Joaquin
Tony,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouraging response.
Mass education to raise nationalist consciousness is the goal. Unfortunately, the internet is accessed by only 1-3 million out of 86 million fellow countrymen (no knowledge as to what they seek: games/young adult chats among others -understandable).
It's sad and discouraging but let's continue the discussion of issues and not personalities, which we -educated/or not- Filipinos tend to concentrate on throughout the decades.
You can help in your own way i.e. , if you like my post and those of others, please pass them around, even translate them to your vernacular.
Bert
Let us support the judge hearing the case so that he knows that we, Filipinos, are behind him. in his job of bringing those guilty to where they belong.
ReplyDeleteJudge Dilag has done a good job so far. Let us encourage him to continue his good work.
Cesar N.Sarino
Let us supprt the judge hearing the case so that he knows that we, Filipinos, are behind him. in his job of bringng those guilty to where they belong.
ReplyDeleteJudge Dilag has done a good job so far. Let us encourage him to ontinue his good work.
Cesar N.Sarino
WHAT ARE WE, REALLY?
ReplyDeleteIT IS HARD FOR US TO ACTUALLY ADMIT OUR OWN HYPOCRICY. WE ARE MAKING THIS ISSUE OF SIX MARINES RAPING ONE FILIPINA. I AM NOT TAKING SIDES, I AM JUST USING WHAT WE CALL, "COMMON SENSE".
THERE ARE TONS AND TONS OF DETAIL ALL OF US DON'T KNOW IF SHE WAS
EVEN RAPED AT ALL? HOW DO WE KNOW IF SHE ACTUALLY STARTED IT?
REMEMBER, THESE MARINES ARE ALL "POGIES AND GENUINE TISOYS OR
CAUCASIANS,"..RAPE IS ONE OF THE MOST COMPLEX ISSUES TO MAKE ANYTHING CONCRETE BECAUSE SEX AMONG ALL OF THESE INVOLVED HAPPENED ONLY BETWEEN THEM. MOST OF THE TIME, THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO PROOF OR EVIDENCE THAT THE RAPED VICTIM IS INDEED TELLING THE REAL TRUTH.
IT ONLY BECOMES A RAPE CASE WHEN THE GIRL OR WOMAN SUDDENLY EXPOSE
IT AND FILED CHARGES.
HOW DO WE KNOW THAT SHE WAS JUST REJECTED AS A REAL WIFE BY ONE OF
THESE MARINES AND ACTUALLY TEMPTED ALL THESE MEN TO RAPE HER SO SHE
CAN CREATE A HUGE ISSUE TO GET EVEN WITH THIS SURE-U.S.CITIZENSHIP
"CATCH"? REMEMBER THE TYSON CASE?-AT 3:00 AM, TYSON WAS SOUND ASLEEP
ONLY TO BE AWAKEN BY THIS YOUNG AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN WHO WAS ABLE TO ENTER HIS ROOM WITHOUT AN INVITATION? ANY MAN IN THIS SITUATION WILL "AUTOMATICALLY" REACT WITH THIS UNKNOWN WOMAN WHO IS ALREADY IN YOUR BED A MOST PROBABLY NAKED ALREADY. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU IF YOU WERE NOT SEXUALLY TEMPTED INSTANTLY. AFTER THAT SHORT AND SATISFYING EXPERIENCE, TYSON SUDDENLY RECIEVED A SUBPOENA AND THE WOMAN SHOUTED RAPE. REAL MOTIVE? OF COURSE, MONEY. UNFORTUNATELY, SHE WON AND GOT SOME OF TYSON'S $MILLIONS. ALL I CAN SAY IS THAT THE JUDGE OF THIS CASE IS SIMPLY STUPID OR HE IS EXPECTING A PIECE OF THE PIE THEY ALL GOT FROM MIKE.
THIS, JUST LIKE THE O.J.SIMPSON
CASE IS SIMPLY TOO OBVIOUS YET THEY WIN. LEGAL TECHNICALITIES ARE
INDEED MUCH MUCH EFFECTIVE IN COURT THAN BASIC,-SIMPLE "COMMON SENSE".NOW, IT'S NOTHING BUT ANOTHER FORM OF BUSINESS-FOR-PROFIT.
WE WANT JUSTICE FOR THIS "POOR" WOMAN? IF WE REALLY WANT JUSTICE,
HOW COME NOT ONE CASE OF RAPE WAS FILED AGAINST THE ENTIRE JAPANESE
FORCES THAT RAPED HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS AND MAYBE EVEN MILLIONS OF OUR FILIPINAS DURING WORLD WAR TWO? INSTEAD OF HATING THE JAPANESE, WHAT DID WE ALL DO? WE KILLED OURSELVES TO WORK JUST TO BE ABLE TO BUY A BRAND NEW MITSUBISHI LANCER, TOYOTA CELICA,AND EACH AND EVERY
HOUSE IN OUR COUNTRY NO MATTER HOW POOR WILL DEFINITELY HAVE A "SONY".
IS THIS WHAT WE CALL NATIONALISM? BUT THIS IS OUR VERSION OF JUSTICE.
DURING THE LATE 60'S AND EARLY 70'S, ALMOST EVERY SINGLE DAY, THERE IS ALWAYS AND ALWAYS A RALLY AGAINST MARCOS AND THE AMERICAN IMPERIALISTS.
DO ALL OF YOU STILL REMEMBER HOW THEY ALL LOOK LIKE? MARCOS-HITLER-
DICTADOR-TUTA!!!!CONTINIOUS CHANTING. BUT, DID ANYONE OF YOU RECALL WHAT THESE NATIONALIST'S-RALLY ORGANIZATIONS ARE WEARING?? LE-VI'S JEANS AND ADIDAS SHOES, RIGHT???EVEN THE TOP COMMUNIST LEADERS WHO LED THOSE RALLIES ARE NOW U.S.CITIZENS AND RECIEVING SSS OR SSI. ANO BA TALAGA? WE TALK TOO MUCH BUT TRY TO LOOK WHAT WE ARE REALLY DOING.
AS THEY SAY TODAY,DURING THE JAPANESE TIME, ITAGO ANG MGA BABAE,
NANDITO NA ANG MGA HAPON,-TODAY,-ILABAS LAHAT NG BABAE, NANDITO NANG
MGA HAPON!!!DATUNG NA MALIWANAG.
WHO WAS INVADED BY THE JAPANESE FIRST? OBVIOUSLY, THE PEARL HARBOR
THEN WE WERE NEXT INVADED. IT WAS A HUGE EVENT TO SEE GEN.McARTHUR
WITH CARLOS P. ROMULO BESIDE HIM WALKING THROUGH THE BEACHES OF
LEYTE. NOW WE ARE THROWING THE AMERICANS OUT. WHO SAVED US FROM
THE JAPANESE? WHAT ARE WE DOING TO GET JUSTICE FROM ALL THE DAMAGES
AND DEATHS DONE TO US BY THE JAPANESE? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING,...FOR
GOD'S SAKE, WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE WE REALLY ARE? WE TALK TOO MUCH BUT
OUR ACTIONS AND GREED TELLS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STORY.
WHO ARE PAYING FOR THOSE KILLED IN ACTION DURING THAT WAR? THE AMERICANS. HOWCOME WE DON'T DEMAND PAYMENT FROM ALL THE JAPANESE DID TO US DURING THAT WAR? THE JAPANESE OBVIOUSLY SHOULD BE PAYING US HUGE AMOUNT OF MONETARY WAR REPARATIONS BUT NOT ONE ORPHANED CHILD WAS AWARDED ANY FORM OF SUPPORT FROM THE JAPANESE.
THE AMERICANS ARE THE ONES PAYING FOR ALL OUR PENSIONS. I THOUGHT WE FILIPINOS ARE FAMOUS FOR THE WORD-"UTANG NA LOOB".
ALL THOSE RALLYING IN FRONT OF THE US EMBASSY, TRY GIVING THEM AN
INSTANT U.S.VISA,... YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE,..THE HELL WITH
EVERYONE, I'M GOING TO THE US AND BECOME A GENUINE CITIZEN, NOT A
TNT.
WAKE UP PLEASE.....
A CONCERNED FILIPINO
PHILIP
Philip,
ReplyDeleteI decided to post your comment since you spent time writing it; however I do not find it worth responding to.
I do no understand what Mike Cohen is talking about.
ReplyDelete-JojoV
Here's the reason WHY and WHO caused the delay in filing charges.
ReplyDeleteNote that the delay/footdragging can lead to the self-destruction of the case; per the 1-year limit of the VFA.
Compare with crimes committed in Japan. Who deserves and gets respect and WHY?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Modern-day Gunga Dins
BIG DEAL By DAN MARIANO
ABS-CBN Interactive, Feb 12,2006
When the authorities in Japan seek custody over wayward GIs, their US counterparts—knowing that the Japanese are no pushovers—hop to it. In the Philippines the Americans take comfort in the thought that their Filipino counterparts would be, well, accommodating like the good ol’ boys that they are.
Philippine officials have been offering one excuse after another to account for the snail-paced prosecution of four US Marines accused of raping a Filipina at the Subic free port on November 1. Makes you wonder who these officials are really working for.
Last Monday the Department of Foreign Affairs said arrest warrants could not be served on the accused, because it happened to be Martin Luther King Jr. Day, an American public holiday. DFA Undersecretary Zosimo Paredes said the US Embassy—where the accused servicemen are reportedly being held—was closed.
Had he heard this excuse, Dr. King would probably have turned in his grave. The great African American leader of the civil rights movement would never have let a technicality to get in the way of justice—especially for a defenseless woman who was evidently overpowered by burly soldiers driven by lust.
Some officials of the DFA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been acting as virtual spokesmen for the Americans. It is they who are often heard invoking the Visiting Forces Agreement to justify why the accused GIs could not be placed in Philippine custody immediately. In contrast, officials of the US Embassy in Manila have made comparatively few statements on the case. They evidently feel they need not say more than what they already have said. They have their little brown brothers—modern-day Gunga Dins—in the DFA and the DOJ to do all the talking for them.
It was not until December 27 that the US Marines were indicted before an Olongapo City court despite official claims that ample material evidence and eyewitness testimonies were available to police and prosecutors even within hours after the Filipina filed her complaint.
It took a long time for the arrest warrants to be issued. In fact, the warrants would never have been issued had some Filipino officials—who seemed to be lawyering for the Americans—had their way.
Last Friday the 13th, Judge Renato Dilag of Olongapo finally ordered the arrest of Staff Sgt. Chad Brian Carpentier and Lance Corporals Daniel Smith, Keith Silkwood and Dominic Duplantis after prosecutors were able to put together criminal complaints against the Americans—nearly two and a half months after the alleged rape.
DFA officials claimed that they had sent a note verbale to the US Embassy as early as November 16 seeking custody over the rape suspects. However, when Judge Dilag made up his mind to insist on Philippine custody over the accused Americans the DFA began to show its true colors—the red, white and blue, not of our Sun and Stars, but of America’s Stars and Stripes.
"The issue on the actual serving of the arrest warrant will have to take into account the treaty obligations of the Philippines under the VFA and so there will be diplomatic negotiations for the enforcement of the arrest," DFA spokesman Bert Asuque said in a TV interview.
Even if the warrants were served, Philippine authorities would not gain custody over the accused US Marines immediately—as the alleged rape in Subic is, as Asuque put it, "no ordinary criminal case."
Under the VFA the US Marines can be held for trial in the Philippines for one year. However, at the rate Philippine officials have been dragging their feet it will probably take months before the trial gets under way. And before the Olongapo court has a chance to hand down a verdict the one-year limit would have lapsed. When that happens, do not expect the four alleged rapists to hang around the country a minute longer.
Contrast this to the case of an American sailor accused of killing a Japanese woman on Tuesday, January 3, near the US naval base of Yokosuka. By Friday, January 7, the accused serviceman was arrested by Japanese police. Earlier that same Friday a Japanese court had issued an arrest warrant for the suspect, William Reese.
The Philippines theoretically maintains jurisdiction over US servicemen accused of violating our laws. In actuality, the suspected GIs are placed in the custody of US Embassy authorities. But even if Manila were to require that the suspects be placed in its custody, a turnover would be possible only with Washington’s consent.
Under an American-Japanese accord similar to the RP-US VFA, the American military is also under no obligation to hand over US servicemen accused of committing crimes in Japan. Since 1995, however, the US has acted favorably on Japanese requests for transfer of custody in "heinous" crime cases. What made the Americans adopt a more cooperative attitude was the outcry over the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three US Marines in Okinawa.
Of course, the new policy has not stopped US servicemen from committing crimes in Japan. According to the Japan Press Service, from 2000 to 2004 exactly 461 criminal cases were recorded involving US personnel. The cases included a GI accused of "inflicting sexual violence and bodily injury" on a woman in Sasebo City (January 2004); two US servicemen arrested on the spot for the attempted murder of two Japanese men in Morioka City (June 2004); and a US soldier abusing a Japanese woman at US Camp Zama in Kanagawa (September 2004).
When the authorities in Japan seek custody over wayward GIs, their US counterparts—knowing that the Japanese are no pushovers—hop to it. In the Philippines the Americans take comfort in the thought that their Filipino counterparts would be, well, accommodating like the good ol’ boys that they are.
Still, we Filipinos wonder why we get no respect from Americans and other foreigners.
Our country is once again at a crossroads. We are compelled to choose between rightfully asserting national sovereignty or surrendering it once more in the name of so-called "special relations."
ReplyDeleteThe continuing detention of convicted rapist Lance Corporal Daniel Smith at the US embassy in Manila is clear proof of the grossly unequal character of the Visiting Forces Agreement or VFA. And despite the Philippine Supreme Court ruling declaring the Romulo-Kenney Agreement illegal and that Smith should be returned to the custody of Philippine authorities, the Arroyo government has not sought to regain custody of Smith. Instead, the Arroyo government continues to insist that Smith should remain in the US embassy until the highest court finally decides on his appeal. There is also every indication that the US will not surrender Smith to Philippine authorities at all.
The Smith case is only the most recent example of how grossly lopsided the VFA is in favor of the US. The VFA also falls short of the Philippine constitutional requirements for a valid treaty. It was ratified by the Philippine Senate but not by the US Senate and was merely recognized as a treaty by the US State Department.
While the Philippine government enforces the VFA in the country, it is not so in the US. With the recent US Supreme Court ruling in Medellin vs. Texas, treaties entered into by the US are deemed unenforceable in the US unless there is an implementing law or if the treaty is self-executory. The RP-US VFA falls short of these requirements set by the US Supreme Court.
With the unequal standards in the ratification and implementation of the agreement, no less than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines in his dissenting opinion has called the VFA unconstitutional and a "slur on our sovereignty".
The complimentary agreement VFA 2 further underscores the gross inequality and double-standards applied to US and Filipino troops. Filipino soldiers who are accused or convicted of crimes in the US will not have the same privileges that Daniel Smith enjoys today.VFA 2 highlights the utter absence of mutuality and reciprocity in the agreements.
Apart from being unconstitutional on its face, the VFA is also unconstitutional in its application. It allows the entry of an unlimited number of foreign troops for an indefinite period of time sans any basing treaty. Since 2002, US troops have been stationed in the Philippines under various pretexts and engaged in various questionable military operations.
For being patently unequal, unconstitutional and an affront to our national sovereignty, the VFA must be abrogated. The Executive branch, through President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, should exercise the right to terminate the agreement. With the abrogation of the VFA, the Arroyo government will have no other recourse but to impose Philippine laws and regain custody over Daniel Smith.
Our choice is simple and clear. We must choose sovereignty over supposed benefits from the VFA. We must choose national dignity over so-called "special relations" with the United States. The Philippines must conduct its foreign relations based on mutual respect, mutual benefit and non-intervention in each country’s internal affairs.
Junk the VFA now!
-from YONIP
http://www.yonip.com/archives/vfa/VFA-000041.html