Foreigner confronts anti-VFA protesters By Jaymee T. Gamil Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 17:21:00 11/24/2010 Filed Under: Protest, Foreign affairs & international relations MANILA, Philippines -- Protesters calling for the scrapping of the Philippine-US Visiting Forces Agreement were caught off-guard when a Caucasian man angrily confronted them in front of the US Embassy along Roxas Blvd. Wednesday morning. The foreigner, who sounded American, approached the "Scrap the VFA Movement" protesters at the tail end of their program and angrily told them, "Do you want to stop US aid to the Philippines?" Before the group could respond, he was quickly ushered away by a Filipino woman, whom the protesters surmised to be his girlfriend or wife. The group said they would have responded: "Our clear stand is that US aid to the Philippines is a package. It doesn't come without strings attached. Yes, it is fine with us if US aid to the Philippines is stopped," Chester Amparo, secretary general and spokesman of the Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya said in Filipino. He said that in giving aid to the Philippines, the US was simply maneuvering to "win the hearts and minds of Filipinos" in return for business and political favors. The VFA has made the Philippines a "launching pad" and "virtual base" of US politico-military strategies, according to a subsequent statement from the group. It also accused foreign troops of intervening in Philippine internal affairs by engaging in combat operations in Mindanao. Wednesday saw the protesters flying paper planes, symbolic of the last plane that took off from the US Subic Naval Base in Zambales on Nov. 24, 1992, which marked its closure. "But in the VFA, the very thing we rejected in the USMilitary Bases has returned," Amparo protested. The "Scrap the VFA" movement is composed of advocacy groups Kilusan, Kaisa Ka, Wedpro, Catwap, Alliance of Progressive Labor, Partido ng Manggagawa and Makabayan. On Tuesday, the Legislative Oversight Committee on the Visiting Forces Agreement convened in the Senate to review the VFA and its implementation.
8 Comments
martin sampaga
11/25/2010 08:42:56 am
Form submitted from website: http://kpdnorth.weebly.com/contact-us.html
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Martin Sampaga
11/28/2010 01:10:02 pm
kung matitigil ang aid ng America sa Pilinas? sino po ba aasahan natin kung sa panahon ng trahedya, maraming nangangailangan ng tulong? CHINA?
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very much appreciated and welcome ang mga tulong galing amerika at iba pang bansa. KPD and other progressive Filipino organizations keep our kababayans well informed about it and we are just specific sa mga desbentahe ng bansang Pilipinas sa VFA at iba pang agreements na meron tayo sa AMERIKA. we have nothing against the americans, but we have something for their government and their capitalists. sa totoo lang even americans are against VFA, hindi nga ito treaty para sa kanila, both US CONGRESS AND SENATe refused to ratify the said treaty ,because of public opposition sa US, and the reason is, it puts the american public in disadvantageous position as well, for them, this means heavy taxation.THEY dont want to pay more for the AMERICAN TROOPS.they also experience marginalization and oppression.Specific group na tutol dito ay ang mga working class ng US na kabilang sa COMMUNICATION WORKERS OF USA and many kababayans in the US.Para sa US GOVERNMENT Isa lang itong executive agreement between US & Philippine Presidents na pwedeng iterminate anytime depending on public clamour.
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re: 3 MILYON FILIPINOS residing in the US.that is very much familiar to us here in the Philippines. Actually we have KPD members in the US and they also work for the termination of VFA and other unequall ties we have with the US government. Our fellow kababayans are in partnership with US mass organizations working for system change. Our kababayans are supported by group of progressive americans against war in Iraq,Afghanistan and in Mindanao. Our american friends are very much concern re: nicole rape and mining exploration and the pollutions we suffer from their troops and their big businesses. I notice your email:its verizon right?.verizon workers are members of the CWUSA..that is a mass organization of workers in the US with over 750,000 supporting our fellow workers in the Philippines against contractualization and repression.
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martin
3/3/2011 06:06:54 pm
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Support the Libyan and Arab people’s struggle against tyranny and exploitation!
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martin
4/19/2011 06:34:10 pm
Jim,
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Martin
4/19/2011 06:35:45 pm
Jim,
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