For coalition vs war games, it’s US bases all over again
For participants of the "Gathering for Peace," the newly-formed coalition against the ongoing RP-US military exercises is like the anti-US bases movement all over again.
"People back then thought we were naive to think that we could ever oust the US bases in the country," said former Quezon Rep. Wigberto Tañada. "At the start, there were only a few of us who believed in it. But look at what we achieved after years of struggle."
Tañada, known for his nationalist leanings, described as "historic" yesterday’s meeting of political activists, who, in other circumstances, "cannot even sit at the same table."
Tañada recalled that in the early days of the campaign to remove the US bases in the Philippines, activists faced many challenges, the most daunting of which was the fact that many Filipinos were indifferent to the issue and that some didn’t actually want the Americans to leave.
"They said we would suffer economically. They said the communists would take over. They said it would be the end of our national security if we let the Americans go," he said. "However, we were later vindicated by the Magnificent 12 at the Senate. Many thought it couldn’t be done."
Tañada, who now heads the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement, said the Arroyo administration’s foreign policy is a turnaround from those gains made in 1991, when the Senate voted against the continued stay of the bases.
The Gathering for Peace attracted several personalities and groups of various political beliefs. Sending the largest delegation was PEACE-CAMP, composed of over 50 organizations, including the Sanlakas, Freedom from Debt Coalition and Task Force Detainees.
Top leaders of the party-list group Akbayan – Walden Bello, Joel Rocamora and Ric Reyes – were also present. Lawyer JV Bautista represented Sanlakas, one of the biggest socialist groups in the country.
Even the old Partido Kumunista ng Pilipinas-1930 of labor leader Crisanto Evangelista was represented as was Alab-Katipunan, a communist breakaway group identified with Revolutionary Proletariat Army founder Nilo de la Cruz.
The national democrats were represented by the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan), which welcomed the formation of the coalition, but expressed reservations about being part of any organizational structure.
Group spokesman Renato Reyes Jr. said Bayan and its allied organization Junk the VFA Movement were willing to launch parallel mass actions to be staged by the new coalition.
Open to all
Ma. Socorro Diokno, executive director of the Free Legal Assistance Group, a convenor of the meeting said the same welcoming hand would be extended to leaders of the political opposition.
"Had pro-Estrada political leaders walked in, they would have also been welcome," she said. "Provided, that is, they share our common goal, they respect the internal policies of the coalition, and they do not impose their own agenda on the coalition."
Former Senate President Jovito Salonga, a key supporter of the movement, was unable to attend the meeting because of prior commitment, but sent a five-page statement of solidarity.
Nini Quezon Avanceña of the Jose W. Diokno Foundation also expressed support for the initiative.
The Gathering for Peace, dubbed as the "mother of coalitions," would be releasing a statement of concern on Jan. 30, when the RP-US war games formally begin. Groups also plan to hold a series of mass actions in Manila and Mindanao.
Sanlakas and the Ateneo Human Rights Center said they plan to question the legality and constitutionality of the military exercises before the Supreme Court.
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