Philippine President ARROYO IS PLUNGING THE COUNTRY INTO AN ALL-OUT CIVIL WAR

ARROYO IS PLUNGING THE COUNTRY INTO AN ALL-OUT CIVIL WAR

The Arroyo administration's decision to allow US troops on Philippine
soil
to supposedly help the government hunt down members of the Abu Sayyaf
may
plunge the country into an all-out civil war and US intervention.

This is the warning aired by IBON Foundation, an independent
socio-economic
research institution, in its Yearend Economic and Political Briefing
held
last January 15 at the PSSC Auditorium in Quezon City.

IBON Research Director Antonio Tujan Jr. scored President Arroyo for
holding

Oplan Balikatan military exercises in Basilan and Zamboanga, which he
described as a "very provocative act," and echoed fears of many that
the
target of these so-called military exercises may eventually include
other
armed groups fighting the Philippine government.

Tujan debunked official claims that US military troops are here just to
train soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the latter's
effort
to stamp out the Abu Sayaff, saying the six months to one year reported
plans of US servicemen to stay in the country "is part of the
interventionist wars of aggression of the US."

Tujan mentioned Washington's recent inclusion of the New People's Army
to
its list of "terrorist organizations" and said that it is highly
probable
that the war may spill in the whole of Mindanao and the rest of the
country, and escalate into a full-blown US military intervention.

"The US is strengthening and reconsolidating its military hegemony in
virtually every corner of the world. And that is definitely something
to be
wary about in the light of the sudden, almost sinister way that US
troops -
armed with sophisticated killing machines - are now descending on the
shores
of Basilan and Zamboanga," Tujan said.

"Clearly, Filipinos are being used as pawns in these dangerous war
games of
the US, made possible by the appalling subservience of President Arroyo
to
American dictates," he added.

From IBON Foundation
http://www.ibon.org/