The isolation of the Arroyo regime in the international community over the unresolved and unabated extrajudicial killings of political activists and journalists is worsening with the recent investigation on the issue of the US Senate. Meanwhile, the arrest of Bayan Muna party-list Representative Satur Ocampo further attracted global attention to the worsening human rights situation in the country. These developments emerged less than a month after United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Philip Alston released his initial report claiming military involvement in the political killings.
The Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) verdict of Arroyo, including on charges of grave human rights atrocities, can only but bolster the growing isolation of Arroyo who is increasingly perceived in the international community as another Marcos who can no longer govern democratically and has to resort tostate repression and fascism to stay in power.
Compounding the woes of the Arroyo regime is the growing demand internationally to stop the flow ofAmerican military assistance to the country until the political killings have been credibly resolved and the perpetrators are brought to justice.
The statements of Senator Barbara Boxer,chairperson of the US Senate subcommittee on foreign relations on East Asian and Pacific Affairs that conducted the investigation, and Amnesty International (AI) are the recent additions to the growing list of national and international personalities and institutions questioning US military aid to the Philippines should increase the pressure on President Gloria Arroyo to stop the political killings.
But while these statements heightened the pressure on Arroyo, the more crucial question is: will the militarist Bush administration heed the growing demand to stop its military aid to one of its most loyal and trusted allies in the ‘war against terrorism’?
That Bush remains confident in her regime in spite of its appalling human rights record is Arroyo’s biggest asset. Thus for Arroyo, there is a need more than ever to protect this advantage by continuously assuring Washington that it remains faithful to US geopolitical and economic agenda.
A military-dependent regime
As early as 2001 when she became president through EDSA II, Arroyo already realized that the survival of her regime would rest a lot on a strong and loyal military establishment.Thus Arroyo sold the Strong Republic vision where a modernized AFP plays a central role. After the controversial 2004 elections and the legitimacy crisis that ensued, Arroyo’s dependence on the AFP deepened. It is in this context that Arroyo needs to ensure resources for the military establishment.
Arroyo quickly capitalized on 9/11 and the subsequent war on terrorism to draw in precious foreign aid particularly from the US. As a direct result of Arroyo’s unconditional support to the US-led war on terrorism, the Philippines has received the most dramatic increases inAmerican military aid in the East Asia-Pacific region. For instance, Foreign Military Financing (FMF) from the US was only $2.3 million in 2001 but the amount ballooned to $44 million in 2002 and to $49.9 million in 2003.
FMF is the USgovernment’s program for financing through grants or loans the acquisition of US military articles, services, and training; supports US regional stability goals; and enables friends and allies to improve their defense capabilities.[1] In the Philippines, FMF sustains logistical and support functions, helps enhance counter-terrorism activities, and continues a multi-year effort to reform and modernize the AFP.
Aside from FMF, the other major program under US’s military assistance in the Philippines is the International Military Education and Training (IMET). The IMET is a low-cost, key funding component of US military assistance that providestraining on a grant basis to students from allied and friendly countries. It exposes students to the US professional military establishment and the “American way of life”.[2]
In addition to these military aid programs that the country annually receives from the US, the Arroyo regime is also a beneficiary of other military assistance from the Bush administration. It includes the Military Assistance Program (MAP) grants, Peacekeeping Operations, and the transfer of excess (military hardware) stock.
The US also provides funds to the Arroyo regime that are not counted as military aid but are military and security-related such as Non-Proliferation, Anti-Terrorism, Demining, and Related Programs (NADR); Economic Support Fund (ESF); and US Department of Defense (DOD) Security Assistance. The NADR provides resources in support of a variety of security-related foreign policy objectives.[3] In the Philippines, the NADR program includes the
Anti-Terrorism Assistance,Counter-Terrorism Finance, Terrorist Indication Program, and Export Control and Border Security.
Meanwhile, the ESF is meant to promote economic and political stability in strategically important regions where the US has special security interests. It primarily funds development programs and projects in Mindanao such as those that are related to the government’s 1996 Peace Agreement with the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).[4]
Overall, from only $14.6 million in military assistance and securityrelated aid from the US in 2001, the figure jumped to an annual average of $86.5 million from 2002to 2005. (See Table 1)
In fact, among all post-Marcos administrations, the Arroyo regime is next only to the Aquino administration (1986-1992) in terms of dependence on US
military aid, particularly the FMF. Under Arroyo (2001-2005), the country is receiving $24.32 million in FMF every year. In comparison, the Ramos administration (1993-1998) was receiving only $2.5 million in FMF while the short-lived Estrada administration (1999-2000) was getting only $1.2 million. (SeeTable 2)
Stronger than ever
Many analysts have pointed out that the Philippines-US military relationship is stronger than at any time since the Senate revoked the country’s Military Bases Agreement (MBA) with the US in 1991. One of the most telling indicators of this is the drastic increase in military aid from the US at the turn of the century after years of substantial decline last decade.
Arroyo knows that the flow of US military assistance depends heavily on how the regime will kowtow to American geopolitical interests. Arroyo’s militarydependent regime does not want a repeat of the 1990s when US military aid to the Philippines substantially fell as a direct consequence of the pullout of American military bases.
From a high of $205.4 million in 1991, US military aid dropped to $37.7 million in 1992 and further went down to $17.5 million in 1993. From 1994 to 1998, US military aid to the Philippines averaged only $1.36 million per year with FMF allocation for the country stopped during the said period, an all-time low in the history of Philippines-US military relations. It was only in 1999, the year the controversial Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was passed, that the trend was reversed with US military assistance climbing to $15.5 million. The trend was sustained following Arroyo’s declaration of allout support to the US’ global war against terrorism in 2001.
With her hold to power further weakened by the Hello Garci scandal, Arroyo has become more dependent on US patronage to strengthen the military and protect her failing regime.
Thus when the US threatened to suspend the Balikatan exercises and implied of less military aid if Lance Corporal Daniel Smith of the US Marines were not handed over to the US, Arroyo pulled all strings to transfer the convicted rapist from the Makati City jail to the American embassy undermining the judiciary and the country’s sovereignty in the process. In a similar fashion, Arroyo mustered all efforts to railroad the anti-terrorism law to fulfill a long-standing US agenda and at the same time provide the legal framework for more repression of those who are critical of her rule.
Increase pressure on Bush
It is clear that the international campaign to stop the political killings in the Philippines needs to increase the pressure on the Bush administration to suspend its military aid to the country. Fortunately, this campaign has been boosted with the Democrats regaining control of the US Congress. The ongoing Senate investigation, initiated by the Democrats, of Bush’s war on terrorism campaign including the massive flows of military aid to its allies in this campaign like the Philippines should be maximized to expose and stop the state terrorism that the illegitimate Arroyo regime wreaks upon the Filipino people.
But the key in sustaining this international campaign still lies in an ever growing and strengthening local mass movement that opposes the atrocities of the Arroyo regime and the AFP. This means stepping up the local campaign to stop the political killings and make Arroyo and her generals accountable, to free Ocampo and Anakpawis party-list Representative Crispin Beltran, and to force the withdrawal of AFP troops deployed in urban poor communities in Metro Manila. IBON Features
Reference:
US overseas loans and grants (Greenbook)
Sources:
[1] Foreign Military Financing Program,Defense Security Cooperation Agency website (http:// www.dsca.osd.mil/home/foreign_military_financing%20_
program.htm).
[2] International Military Education and Training, Defense Security Cooperation Agency website (http://www.dsca.osd.mil/home/international_military_education_training.htm).
[3] US foreign military assistance,Federation of American Scientistswebsite (http://www.fas.org/asmp/profiles/aid/aidindex.htm#Updates)
[4] The Republic of the Philippines: Background and US relations, p. 20, CRS report for Congress, 10 January 2006
Arnold Padilla is IBON Foundation’s senior researcher and advocacy specialist on aid.
