We won’t get justice by counting more dead; war is not the answer

PRESS STATEMENT

30 January 2015

Partido Manggagawa (PM) joins the nation in mourning the death of SAF 44.  As breadwinners, husbands, and brothers to their families, their death is certainly a big loss, a pain that is hard and long to overcome.

And as soldiers who were trained how to survive under the most difficult situations, their undeserved deaths cry for justice.  Who were the officers in charge? Who were the people accountable for the Mamasapano debacle? Was there a foreign hand behind that operation?

We continue to ask the same questions as we join the people in demanding justice and accountability from both the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).  Their separate investigations must be done in good faith and in soonest possible time.  An independent fact finding body can also be organized to ensure fairness and objectivity in the conduct of investigations.

But in seeking justice, we express our strong disagreement to those who call for all-out war to exact retribution.   War is not the solution.  Justice, we believe, should not come as a consequence of another war.  We don’t get justice by counting more dead as what we have seen over many decades of war in Mindanao.  We don’t get the truth from hatred and established social and religious prejudices.

Lastly, despite this major setback, we remain supportive of the peace process between the government and the MILF.   Working for peace, however tough and tricky it is, remains to be the most effective and viable alternative in addressing the historic and new issues that created the conditions of war in Mindanao.

DFA request for Pemberton custody is pabalat-bunga, lacks weight of a sovereign state

Press Release

December 18, 2014

The Partido Manggagawa (PM) viewed the effort of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to request custody of Lance Corporal Joseph Scott Pemberton, prime suspect in the killing of transgender woman Jeffrey “Jennifer” Laude, as insincere or “pabalat-bunga” since pleading for it through a ceremonial letter lacks the weight of a sovereign state.

“The DFA was basically pleading to get back the sovereignty we lost under the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). And the most stupid thing is to do it now is through a formal request,” said PM spokesman Wilson Fortaleza.

In the first place, Fortaleza argued, the DFA was not expecting US approval of its request because prior to commission of any crime by American soldiers, the government has already agreed to the provision that gave US the right to retain custody of its personnel involved in crimes in Philippine soil. 

According to PM, the request was rather intended to pacify growing criticisms over a kind of foreign policy blunder that borders on outright surrender if not patent subservience to a colonial master. 

Until said provision is deleted from the VFA, including other devious provisions in favor of US interest, Filipinos cannot expect justice for the likes of Jennifer, and would-be victims of American soldiers in Philippine soil. 

PM added that the Philippines can effectively get hold of Pemberton only if it acts like a free nation and its foreign policy presided not by a certified Amboy. PM, together with other militant groups, is calling for the scrapping of the VFA and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States.

PM calls for scrapping of VFA in rally vs. US warship visit

Press Release

May 17, 2011

The Partido ng Manggagawa called for the scrapping of the Visiting Forces Agreement in a rally at the US Embassy this morning against the visit of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. “The USS Carl Vinson is an instrument of American imperialist aggression and its visit makes the PNoy government an accomplice in US military adventures. Its docking in the waters just off the Mall of Asia recalls the Mock Battle of Manila Bay that signaled US colonization of the Philippines,” declared Renato Magtubo, PM chair.

PM joined the Scrap VFA movement in the rally and the groups appealed to the Senate to repudiate the controversial military access agreement with the US.

“Among other reasons, the VFA flaunts the Philippine Constitution which bans nuclear weapons in our country and mandates an independent foreign policy. The visit of the nuclear capable USS Carl Vinson which just came from the latest US military adventure in Pakistan with a unilateral raid against Osama bin Laden contradicts all these provisions of the Constitution,” Magtubo asserted.

He added “Imagine an agreement such as the VFA breaking the supreme law of the land and yet PNoy leads in defending the visit as allowed under the access agreement.”

PM had earlier voice suspicion at the hush-hush tour of the aircraft carrier by President Benigno Aquino III and his top officials last Saturday. The group believes that a top secret agenda was discussed and speculated that it may be about more concessions about American access to Philippines as per the VFA and increased US intervention in the war against Muslim insurgents as a follow through to bin Laden’s assassination.

PM also warned at a repeat of the Subic rape case with thousands of US servicemen having rest and recreation in the country until tomorrow.

“Malacanang had made much of the fact that many Filipino-Americans are serving as crew of the USS Carl Vinson. But if Carl Vinson, a segregationist and militarist who had served for 50 years as congressman from the southern state of Georgia, were still alive he would have raised a howl at African-Americans and Asian-Americans holding positions in the aircraft carrier,” Magtubo explained. He revealed that Vinson was a staunch defender of segregation in the Southern US even as the civil rights movement for blacks gained ground in the 1950’s.