The Garci tapes and beyond

In 2002, two authors, Zaruddin Sardar and Merryl Wyn Davies wrote the book "Why do people hate America?" First published in the UK it was acclaimed by the Independent newspaper which described it as "required reading" and "original and thought provoking" by the New Statesman. The book drives the point that if more and more countries have come to hate America, something is wrong and something needs to be done. This is not just about America but about the rest of the world. Some way has to be found to halt its descent before the eyes of the world. The key is with America itself — that it accept it has a problem.

Except from some obsessive Marxists, I venture to say there is no danger of Filipinos hating America if only for the moment. The idea of ‘Victory for GI Joe’ sunk deep in our subconscious after the last world war. But most Filipinos are unaware that the world has moved on from those days. Today, America is increasingly seen as an intolerable hyperpower, wreaking havoc among nations and peoples who neither have the means nor the power to withstand its depredations.

It is time we look at this perspective to understand the determined assault on the Arroyo government to toe the American line. And what is that line? The line is for the Philippines to hue close to Big Brother’s foreign and economic policies in the region. It infuriates Washington that under President GMA, we are veering to a more independent posture in our relations to China, its rival for power in the region.

It began when President GMA pulled the Philippine contingent from Iraq ahead of time for the sake of hostage Angelo de la Cruz. Other nations followed suit and America never forgave her for that. She had to be taught a lesson. They have no patience with an ally who has a mind of her own. The wheels to oust her rolled with the release of the Garci tapes. I came to know who released the tapes from a source who said it was someone in the US Embassy security. This is nothing new. I received similar tapes of life in Malacañang when I was writing the book on Imelda Marcos, the late 60s. Imelda talking to the maids, Irene chatting with a friend, every conversation in the Palace was taped.

The trouble is that there is more to the Garci tapes and we must look beyond. Most Filipinos are politically unaware how America protects its hegemony or they become instruments of a hatchet job against their own president and government. That should be a concern. The relentless drive to oust President Arroyo is often veiled because of a wide array of actors in a democracy — the opposition, the Church, leftist groups and their comrades as well as international human rights groups here and abroad. It is nuanced and therefore hard to pinpoint as a concerted attack to destabilize government.

‘Extrajudicial killings’ may be a legitimate concern but when it is used by a former colonial power as a stratagem against the sitting government, it becomes something else. Neither am I surprised that it should come close to the May elections. There is a pattern to the series of events and train of visitors to Manila — the Melo Commission, the Alston report, the US Senate hearing. The latest is the announcement that Eric John, US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific is to visit the Philippines to probe the killings. He will arrive sometime in April, close enough to the May elections to meet its target. As if this was not enough the Interparliamentary Union (IPU) is also sending a three-man fact-finding team in April. Expect some interesting headlines. The formula is to provoke a crisis using leftist political blocs and church groups and their international connections against the Arroyo government to discourage, even disable it from expanding trade and investment ties with China and other ASEAN countries not to US liking.

And what better target for this than the military which is utterly dependent on American aid? This is not to say that some members of the military are not complicit in the killings, they may be so but so are the Communists. This is a war. The better approach would have been to look at a wide range of actors instead of just the military. But then that would not be as effective in pursuing an agenda to crack its whip and bring down a government to its knees.

Filipinos do not hate America. They love it even when they are shortchanged but it will not be for long when they finally realize that it is not in their interest to follow blindly when it defines what is good or bad for us. Zardar and Davies write that this defining power of America is most obvious on human rights issues. "The American definition of human rights is not immutable. It is a moveable feast," writes Zardar and Davies. "The US defines human rights as it wishes, then use the emotive language of human rights as a stick to beat any country that does not fall in line with its political and economic policies. This is where the Philippines is at now to America.

MISCELLANY: As the congressional battle heats up, Dagupan City Mayor Benjie Lim of the duty free fame is making a serious error. The Speaker’s secret weapon, his wife Gina is furious that Lim is attempting to portray himself as equal to the incumbent by using his propaganda tabloid Northern Watch. The tabloid is reputed to be one of Lim’s propaganda tools. Gina can be a formidable foe if you get in her way and that’s a fair warning.

Meanwhile lawyer Raul Lambino, who spearheaded the Sigaw ng Bayan bid to amend the 1987 Constitution told this column he has accepted the nomination of the Barangay Association for the Advancement and Transparency (BANAT) party-list as representative in the May 14 elections. His colleagues in the Concom are relieved that he is running as congressman instead of senator. It would be more consistent with Charter change advocacy. He accepted the BANAT nomination on a platform for greater autonomy and the decentralization of governance. He is confident that the groups that gathered more than 6.3 million verified signatures for his Charter change campaign would support BANAT in the coming elections.

My e-mail is [email protected]