"We can have no more illusions in the Aquino government"
OW DO most workers and today, and how have their views changed since the revolution
Well, I wish to impress upon you that when we ousted the dictator Marcos and we placed Corazon Aquino in power, we built up great hopes that the basic problems of the people would be addressed and that there would be some concrete change in the lives of the people, especially among the
But then, although we opted for a position of political collaboration in the early months of the Aquino government, the next thing we knew the promises she made during the elections and the claims of what her government would do were in stark contrast to the actual performance of her government. This clearly showed that she and her government were incapable of delivering on the basic promises made. There has been a failure to make swift and decisive
"Militant organizations had great hopes in the new government"
Bayan, as a federation of territorial and sectoral organizations, includes the organized workers and the organized farmers in my country. I am referring to the militant workers' union, the nationalist and militant workers' union, the KMU, and the militant peasants' organization, the KMP. These organizations also had great hopes in the new government to address the basic demands of the workers and peasants. But then they realized that when the workers continued to exert their right to organize and to go on strike — as the highest and ultimate expression of their demands - they were still confronted with the force of the military. This is that same as what had been done to them during the time of Marcos.
So, for instance, I want to call your attention to what happened to the farmers in January 1987 when they marched to the
Mendiola Bridge near the home of the president, Malacañang Palace. They had a very basic demand which was land, land ownership. The farmers knew that the central issue of the struggle is land ownership. They knew that seven out of ten farmers are landless, and that a few families own and control the land in the country. But when they marched they were simply met with the full force of the marines, instantaneously kill-
ZENAIDA UY is the general secretary of Bayan, an umbrella coalition of labor and other mass organizations in the Philippines, including the main trade-union federation (May 1 Movement, KU) and the
Philippines Peasant Movement (KMP). During a speaking tour of the United States in September, Uy was interviewed by Sarah Lovell. The interview was first published in Bulletin in Defense of Marxism 59 in
January this year. ing 18 young farmers. And so the farmers, especially now after 30 months of power for the Cory Aquino regime, realize that their hope for ownership of land will never be realized under this government.
So they have resorted to what they call peasant initiatives as the basis of our focus for authentic land reform, which will include the following steps:
• We concentrate on lands which are idle, lands which are owned by government. We strongly suggest that these lands, which will remain idle as long as they are owned by government, be redistributed to the landless farmers for free.
• There are lands that were acquired by Marcos, the deposed dictator, and his cronies as well, through illegal and immoral activities. We insist that these lands, because they were immorally procured, also be given to landless farmers for free.
• There are lands that are foreclosed by government banks which are just lying idle. We strongly propose that these lands also be redistributed to the farmers free of
• And, finally, since there are vast tracks of lands - hundreds and thousand of acres
— owned by just a few families, we strongly propose that the government negotiate with the owners and purchase a good proportion of it. Enough acreage should be left for their families and their children to own, but we insist that the rest of this private land should be purchased by government at
PHILIPPINES Corazon Aquino (DR) the current market price, and then turned over to the farmers who need it for free.
Meanwhile, the big landowners may be motivated to open business concerns to generate employment. That is the whole approach of the KMP and Bayan as far as an authentic land reform program is concerned.
"The country is rich with the resources needed for
Industrialization"
But we do not end with simply redistribution. We insist that redistribution is not enough. There should be a complete financial and technical assistance program established to help the farmer who receives land to become productive, self-reliant, and self-sufficient. For once he should have an adequate surplus product from his land so that he can purchase the goods which are produced by the working sector, by the working class. We see a relationship between the power of the farmers and power of the workers. By becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant, the good produced by the working class will now be affordable to the farmers.
The flip-side of an authentic land reform program is what we call the nationalist industrialization program, initiated by the workers. What does this mean? Realizing that the country's economy is basically dominated by foreign big business, we strongly insist that the time has come for us to exert our right to a nationalist industrialization program. The country is rich with the resources needed for industrialization. 23
We have the labor power — skilled, dedi-
International Viewpoint #156 • February 6, 1989
PHILIPPINES cated, persistent, patient labor power. And finally we have an educated layer of the population which could possible help with this development.
Here is what we intend to do: First we look into basic industries that are now in the hands of foreign big business. strongly propose that about 11 or 12 basic industries be owned and run by the government. Why? Because first and foremost these enterprises should be run on the principle of service to the people rather than as a source of profit. What are they? The drug industry, chemicals, communications, transportation, food processing, garment manufacturing, light and water. These are examples, there are others. We believe that these should be owned and run by government (but should include at the same time built-in mechanisms to control corruption). For example, if light and water become a concern of government, a service and not a basic source of profit, it will have affordable rates.
In addition to the basic industries which would be owned and run by government, we propose very strongly the formation and development of more cooperatives — cooperatives of farmers, workers, consumers and for credit, and so on. We know of countries that have been successful along these lines. There is no reason why the Philippines cannot adopt these ideas. There are already some cooperatives in place, but we still insist that this approach be studied very thoroughly and promoted by the
Thirdly, there are private Filipinos whose skills need to be tapped to come up with what we call the development of a Filipino entrepreneur class. This private business sector should be promoted. And, finally, knowing that we are part of a global village, there are foreign investors who should be welcomed — so long as the Filipino people control their overall activity.
What I'm trying to say is very evident. If we are to have a 60% ownership in an industry in favor of the Filipinos, then let this be in writing and let it be implemented to the letter. Let's not just have a simple paper title — 60% on paper but not in practice. Let us have a mixed economy, and only then will the workers be able to
These are the two sides of our approach to the economic betterment of our country.
After 30 months of Aquino's presidency, we in Bayan have definitely reached a conclusion. After all the anti-people, anti-poor activities of the government, we now believe that we can have no more illusions about the ability of the present government of Corazon Aquino to deliver basic change.
It has become instead anti-people, antipoor and pro-US.
• Can you tell us how the guerrilla forces, the New People's Army
(NPA), have fared since the break24 army?' Are they galning ground, or down of the cease-fire with the has the government been able to consolidate its position?
This is really an interesting question. According to the reports from the military itself, as they appear in the newspapers in my country, General Fidel Ramos insists that armed resistance has grown. At the same time, even though it is growing, things are still under control and they even have a timetable for the final destruction of the armed resistance — a maximum of
But then the former defense minister and now senator Juan Ponce Enrile says, on the contrary, that the military is having a difficult time. So we read in the papers that the New People's Army troops are getting killed and their hideouts are being discovered, which is open to question because no less than the former defense ministers says • You don't know which of these views represents the facts and which is disinformation intended to influence public opinion?
It is stated in the papers that the NPA can now strike at will. So even if in fact there is success by the government in killing the guerrillas we know that there is a running war in the countryside. The NPA can strike at will, and some experts say that there is an indication of organizational capabilities. But there are others who think that perhaps, by itself, the armed resistance will just slowly fade away.
I want to look at the whole situation from a very objective viewpoint. If we look at the conditions which exist in Filipino society now, there is continuing impoverishment of the people, injustice, a double standard of morality - one kind for the rich and another for the poor. There is escalating corruption, there is grim and gruesome repression, there is a frightening escalation of human rights' violations. The very poor people — landless peasants, underpaid workers, dislocated urban slum dwellers, marginalized indigenous peoples, underpaid professionals — are the very victims now of this wave of human rights'
So if you look at the conditions, there is nothing discernible in the objective situation that has changed. The conditions which led to the development of the armed
If we could say that conditions are much better, the armed resistance would simply have to terminate its activities. But the contrary is true. As the democratic space has closed down, become more and more constricted, it's pushing people to the wall.
Their options, which would exist if the democratic space were wider, are now reduced and reduced again.
choose, as their last options, to defend themselves and their lives through armed resistance. And so, while General Ramos says that things are under control, that is exactly what was said by Marcos in his
• You say that the workers and farmers are being victimized by the government and vigilante groups.? It certainly seems that there is need
Yes, this is true. But still I wish to impress upon you that we in Bayan will continue pushing for a peaceful, non-armed, but militant approach to change.
It is particularly sad - and this is also one of our concerns - that the very people who have been victimized under the Aquino regime, who have been assassinated, abducted, or just killed, are men and women who have opted for a peaceful approach
Our previous general secretary, Lean Alejandro, was a young man and father of a seven-year-old. He was a man of peace. He believed in protest, he believed in pressure politics, and he was assassinated within the gates of our office one afternoon last year, on September 19, 1987 [see /V 127].
While we in Bayan deeply respect those who opt for armed resistance, we will continue to exert our legality and we will continue pushing our right to organize and to express the people's views in favor of a change. This is guaranteed by the constitution for the first time in our history. We have a provision which states that legitimate people's organizations can be promoted and will be protected. These rights are what we have to exert. • What is your attitude towards the accord which was recently announced concerning the US military bases in the Philippines, and what is your attitude toward the US bases
Let me say that we in Bayan have long articulated our misgivings about the position of the foreign secretary Raul Manglapus, which is simply in favor of amending the original mercenary approach to the whole issue of the bases. We consider the bases to be the tombstone of our lost sovereignty. We strongly propose that steps be taken for the eventual termination of this agreement. That would be the proper course.
It is very painful that the focus of attention around the military bases' review has been the proposed rent increase for the next two years. Of course, this could be maximized to the benefit of those who woald like the bases to stay, but we in Bayan have long articulated our contrary position.
There are half-truths and lies that must be told to our people to justify the bases. Fist, 1. The NA guerrillas are led by the Philippines Communist Party (PCP), with around 30,000 fighters. 2. The vigilante groups are paramilitary organizations supported by the government, which participate in the counter-revolutionary struggle, mainly organizing attacks against left-wing political personalities. "Amnesty International denounces human rights violations", TV 141, May 16, 1988. 3. This accord, signed in Washington on October 17, 1988, allows the US to use the Clark and Subic Bay bases in the Philippines (the biggest American bases in Asia) until 1991, the expiration date of the lease signed in 1947. The US will increase its rent up to $481 million a year.
February 6, 1989 • #156 International Viewpoint the US claims that the bases are necessary to protect the Philippines. Historically, there is no proof of that. American soldiers were there when the Japanese attacked and they could not help us.
Number two, they claim that the military bases in the country are needed for the maintenance of peace in the region. This is also not substantiated historically. As early as 1900 we have, of course, data showing that the military bases in my country were used as launching pads for military intervention in the Pacific — in the Boxer Rebellion in China, in Siberia, in Cambodia, in Korea, in Vietnam. So we see that the US presence in my country has been used to make war and for aggression, rather than for peaceful purposes.
Then, if you look at the social and moral cost of the bases, we have data showing that the number of prostitutes and child prostitutes is increasing. The youngest child registered to be a prostitute is seven. They have even resorted to putting prostitutes in a boxing ring, and of course we know that the number of children born out of wedlock and with American paternity is increasing. We also know that there is a confirmed growing number of AIDS victims. Though some of this may be related to foreign tourists, a good many of these social ills are directly caused by the presence of foreign military servicemen.
So we in Bayan have long insisted on the repudiation of the bases, the termination of the agreement by 1991, and the conversion of the bases for more peaceful uses. For example, Clark Air Base could be converted to a huge international airport with shopping and an industrial or commercial complex. Subic Bay Naval Station can be converted to a huge shipbuilding complex — for repairs, maintenance and so on. The only other such complex in the region is in Singapore. Subic is one of the best shiplanding marine areas and it could be maximized for productive purposes. We are very sad that instead of pursuing this line, the focus of the negotiations was for an increase of the financial rent. That is mercenary and criminal. • Has Intervention by the United States declined from the time of Marcos, or does it continue as before, or has it grown?
Well, let me just cite an example. We have experienced five coup attempts since Aquino came to power. The most serious involved Colonel Gregorio Honasan [see IV 126] . We have data showing that your very own American military expert, Colonel Victor Raphael, was very visible in the area where the forces of Honasan organized. He was found giving direct orders to the Filipino armed forces not to shoot members of Honasan's group which was staging the coup, and when the investigations were started he was simply sent out of the country.
We have data showing that there is an increase in CIA personnel and an increase in the CIA budget for the Philippines. That is, of course, not accidental. We are also seeing a growing number of American statesmen visiting the country.
There has been dislocation suffered by the mass movement, and we in Bayan suffered because of the killings directed against our leaders and members. And of course there was the setback that immediately resulted from the electoral boycott error.* And yet despite this, after a year we experienced a resurgence of the people's organizations, which indicates that more and more people realize that if they act individually they will just beat their heads against a stone wall. The lessons of the past year, and of the years under the Marcos regime, accentuate the lesson which must always be kept in mind: only a people united, organizationally pursuing much needed structural changes in the system, can really succeed in transforming society.
And so we witnessed a resurgence of people's organizations in their sectors and in their territories - more activities, more marches, more protests, and of course the coalitions of different groups based on particular issues. This is the picture for the year 1988. For example, there are groups of different political persuasions now united on the issue of the foreign debt. They know that the foreign debt service must be reduced to 10% instead of 40%. They know that there should be selective repudiation of the foreign debt. They know that somehow the possibility of a moratorium must be studied. Now there are groups all over the land that are united on the issue of the foreign debt. They may have differences on other matters, but they are united on that.
There is another coalition, the anti-bases coalition. It consists of groups that may not be united on the question of the foreign debt but are united on the bases. And then there is a group that may not agree on the bases and may not agree on the debt, but is united on the issue of civil liberties. This is the National Movement for Civil Liberties. And then there are groups of farmers that are united on the issue of land. And so there is the Congress for People's Agrarian Reform. These things indicate that more and more people know the meaning of collective efforts, pushing and pushing for basic • I understand that Bayan is the largest mass organization because it unites other organizations, Includ4. Bayan, like the PCP, boycotted the February 1986 elections that brought Aquino to power. Since then, the PCP has made a self-criticism on this question. See the articles by Paul Petitjean in /Vs 100, 102 and 103, June/ 25 July 1986.
International Viewpoint #156 • February 6, 1989
PHILIPPINES ing the trade-union federation KMU.
The KMU is an alliance of various trade unions and has been growing.
There are also various political parties. Is there an ongoing discussion among these organizations?
Yes, and these are very healthy signs that eventually the principle of political pluralism will become a reality. For us this is meaningful because these are basically the indicators of a true democratic process. We would like to encourage more and more of this flowering.
More and more groups and ideas are needed to discuss and decide what is to be done in a truly free and
Aquino's election simply could not be sustained. The problems are still there. It's even getting worse. The people who are poor — and these are the basic masses — are the very victims of militarization and the very targets of the so-called war policy based on the philosophy of low-intensity conflict. Now as repression increases you see a corresponding response from the people, which is to organize people's power, aa
So if we in the Philippines want the bases to be removed, we will also see to it that they do not just get transferred somewhere else in Asia.
We are encouraged because we also know that worldwide there is a growing disarmament movement, there is a growing anti-nuclear movement and there is a growing peace movement. We hope that together with all the freedom-loving peoples in other parts of the world we can overcome. We shall
AVA overcome.
AAA
• I have two questions now that really fit together. What has been the response in the US to your tour so far?
democratic manner. We in Philippines Bayan strongly insist on the need for respectful political pluralism.
But that is not what is actually happening, because now the problems of the country are being reduced simply to a problem of "democracy versus communism." And so all these groups fighting for change - the farmers fighting for land, the workers fighting for decent wages and hu- AAAA mane working conditions — are simply lumped together as indicators of a communist trend. That is very sad. And despite this, more and more people also realize something else: If it is true, for example, that the call for all workers throughout the world to unite is a communist idea, then it is still not a bad idea. It is a just and proper call and should be supported. Some of the half-truths and the myths are beginning to be rethought.
They say that working for land reform is communist, so more people say "what's wrong with that?" The same is true of working for just wages — because the contradiction between workers and the capitalist is getting stronger. For the workers who demand what they truly deserve in terms of wages so they can support a family, "what is wrong with that?" This should be the direction of the struggle of the workers. And so, precisely because the communist hysteria is really strong, more and more people have come to realize that the myopic way of posing the problem in terms of "democracy versus communism" is in fact only half true. So there are glimmers of hope that as more and more people look at things objectively and scientifically and historically, they can begin to appreciate the validity and the justness of the people's • So would you say that people are getting educated in the struggle and that there is a resurgence in the Phi26 lippie is today? The rising expectations at the time of exerting themselves for basic reforms.
What worries us in Bayan is that there are two possibilities. The Pentagon knows that more and more people now appreciate precisely the nature, the methodology, and the focus of US intervention. As the growing people's movement continues to exert its right to self-determination, it is the geopolitical/economic interests of the United States that are at stake. As more and more people insist on the need to put an end to US intervention, it is perhaps possible to continue the surrogate war, this proxy war being fought for the US by the Filipino armed forces. But we also see the possibility of an escalated war, a full-scale war, where once again American troops will be sent, as they were to Vietnam.
We do not want this to happen. This war is an internal matter, a question of Filipinos exerting their right to self-determination. Sending American soldiers will only lead to another Vietnam. Many of us know that we were indeed the first Vietnam, with the US being instrumental in the defeat of nationalist guerrilla forces in our country in the past. We have a legitimate fear that perhaps this could happen again.
This can be prevented by pressing the need to transform US foreign policy, which hinges around maintaining control of the Pacific and insists on a clear division of the world, that you are either pro-West, or you are pro-East. But we see glimpses of hope because there is a growing move among people in the Asia/Pacific region to unite.
What can you advise us to do here to affect US policy? Yes, I'm glad you raised that. As I go around I can't help but appreciate the enormous reservoir of goodwill from the Americans whom I have a chance of interacting with.... Those corporations owned by Americans will have to be dealt with because, although we know that some kind of employment has been generated by panies in the Philippines, we know that wages paid to the Filipino laborer working on a Dole plantation or for Del Monte are worlds apart from those paid to the Japanese or Korean workers by the same companies here on the mainland....
I see no reason why we cannot pursue changes peacefully. I see, for example, that more and more Americans understand the need to transform their own foreign policy and to solve their own internal problems — given how many Americans go to bed hungry every day. More Americans realize this and therefore are concerned over the fact that a good percentage of their tax dollars, which go to the Pentagon, are being channeled to military aid which is used against
I just wish to point out to Americans that the struggle back home is very simple. It is a struggle for freedom. It is a struggle against hunger and exploitation. It is a struggle for freedom from injustice and exploitation. It is a struggle against US intervention. And, of course, it is a struggle for self-determination. It is a struggle to put an end to the continuing rape of our environment, the continuing plunder of our resources...
I call on all concerned Americans, especially those who are organized, to see the importance of coming up with something like a mass movement in the United States to bring about the greatest possible pressure to put an end to US intervention in my country. *
The International revolutionary movement will miss his dedication, knowledge and the historical link he represented. He will not be forgot-