Why Protest the World Economic Forum and US Troops in the Philippines?

Join the Inang Bayan Movement at a...

SPEAK OUT Against Global Poverty and Militarism!
Saturday, February 2
11am: assemble at 59th St. & 8th Avenue (Columbus
Circle, near the
fountain at the SW corner of Central Park)
11:30: program
12:00: march to join the Another World is Possible
Coalition (59th
St./5th Ave) until 1pm
Afterwards, the march will continue to the Waldorf
Astoria Hotel

For more info, call: Inag Bayan Movement, 212-741-6806

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Why Protest the World Economic Forum and US Troops in
the Philippines?
- a Q & A

What is the World Economic Forum?

From January 31st through February 4th, the World
Economic Forum will
be meeting here in NYC, at the Waldorf Astoria hotel
in mid-town
Manhattan. The World Economic Forum is a private
member organization
comprising representatives from 1,000 of the world's
largest corporations including Boeing, Goldman-Sachs,
Enron (until
recently), Ayala Land, The New York Stock Exchange,
Pfizer, and
Chevron-Texaco. The exclusive meeting is open to
members, who pay
upwards of $30,000 in annual dues, as well as selected
politicians,
journalists and academics. George W. Bush and
Philippine President
Gloria Arroyo are expected to be in attendance.

While the WEF helps set global economic and trade
agendas that affect
the entire world, the group predominantly includes
European and
American businesses. The upcoming meeting will
celebrate war in
Afghanistan and the Middle East, attacks on civil
liberties, and
corporate tax cuts.

What is the relationship between the WEF and the US
"War on Terror?

The world's large corporations have created greater
and greater
concentrations of wealth in the hands of a few, while
the numbers of
the world's poor are growing. The political leaders
of the US and
the few other dominant countries of the world
(imperialist countries)
work hand-in-hand with these corporations to ensure
their increased
profits. After all, it's the corporations that funded
these leaders
when they were candidates, and the many of these
leaders once worked
at these same corporations!

As the people of the world get poorer, and see the
wealth of their
work and natural environments exploited and taken by
million-dollar
CEOs, and as they and their children go increasingly
hungry, they are
getting angry and organizing against the world's
ruling elite. Thus
the ruling elite and their corporations arm themselves
and repress
all opposition to their rule.

We see this in the current so-called "War on Terror."
First the US
armed and funded fringe Muslim groups including Osama
Bin Laden
himself and those who formed the Abu Sayyaf in the
Philippines in
order to protect its interests in Afghanistan against
the Soviets in
the 1980s. With US arms, training and money, these
groups really
took off! Then when the US angered the monsters it
had formed by
stationing its military throughout the Middle East and
by funding the
terrorist Israeli government, these fringe groups
began to plot
terrorist attacks on US targets.

The ruling elite and multinational corporations are
overjoyed as they
now have a pretext to use repression and violations of
civil
liberties to defend their continued exploitation and
superprofits
against the people who are organizing to challenge
them. And the US
arms manufacturers are also overjoyed that now there
is a reason for
even greater military spending.

What is the US military doing in the Philippines?

The US is mobilizing at least 660 troops to the
Philippines to back
up thousands of Philippine troops that are already
"fighting" the Abu
Sayyaf, a group of little more than 100 people. Seem a
little crazy?
It is! The Abu Sayyaf were founded in the first place
by CIA-trained
fighters who returned from the US war in Afghanistan.
Then the
Philippine military facilitated the group's formation
in the early
1990s in order to undermine another Muslim separtist
group, the Moro
National Liberation Front. The Abu Sayyaf has taken
some
hostages including two Americans now in its custody.
The group has no
clear objectives or plan, no support among the people,
and it mostly
operates as a gang.

If the Abu Sayyaf is so small, why can't the
Philippine military deal
with the issue on its own?

Based on accounts of the hostages and other evidence,
elements in the
Philippine military are known to be working with and
supporting the
Abu Sayyaf. Why? Then it can count on a steady flow of
arms, money
and training from the US!

Both the US and Philippine ruling elite are using this
occasion as a
pretext to target non-terrorist progressive liberation

struggles that seek to bring genuine democracy and
freedom to the 75%
of the population mired in poverty. The strength of
these stuggles
and the advanced awareness of the people can be seen
right now in the
numerous actions around the Philippines protesting the
stationing of
US troops in their country.

Why should we in New York protest US troops going to
the Philippines?

The US military has a long and sordid history in the
Philippines.
From the Philippine-American War of 1899-1916 where
one-eighth of the
Filipino population was murdered by US troops- to the
toxic wastes
still left by the US bases that the US refuses to
clean up. And now
our tax dollars are going to fund a virtual Asian
"School of the
Americas" where US troops will supposedly "train"
Philippine troops.
The entry of these troops is in violation of the
Philippine
Constitution. We should also remember that the Vietnam
war began this
way: first with advisers and trainors, then combat
troops.

In the end, the aims are not to protect the Filipino
or the American
people, but to protect the business interests of
multinational
corporations and the US's self-claimed right to
station its military
wherever it wants (now in 140 countries).

Why should we protest the World Economic Forum?

Multi-national corporations and political leaders have
protected
their interests over the interests of the people.
When the attacks
on the World Trade Center occurred, in a flash the US
government was
there to bail out the large airlines and corporations
that suffered.
Now Bush has allocated another $38 billion in military
spending to
fight "terrorism." Obviously the world's elite does
not
care about distributing the wealth, even when it knows
that millions
die due to lack of adequate nutrition and health care.


Nothing good will come to the world's people unless we
struggle for
it. It is our duty to register our opposition to
unjust policies
committed in our name, to build public opinion, and
oppose US plans
to expand the war to the Philippines and other
countries.

Will protesting really do anything? Isn't it dangerous
for us to
speak out?

By protesting on February 2, we will not cause the end
of the World
Economic Forum or the pull-out of US troops from the
Philippines the
next day. However, we are part of a large movement of
people who are
educating themselves and others and organizing global
justice.
By doing nothing, we give our consent for the status
quo. By doing
something, we have the power to educate and challenge
the public so
that they will someday join us. And we register our
voice against
injustice, inequality, and the plunder of the world's
resources.

The US elite claim that this is a democracy where
anyone can speak
their opinion. While we know that this is frequently
violated, we
must hold them to the fire and challenge their
violations of their
own laws. The more we speak out and support one
another against their
hypocrisy, the more we will educate, grow in numbers,
and the
stronger our movement will become. We must speak out
before we lose
our rights altogether. This time is critical. ##

For more information, contact Inag Bayan Movement at 212-741-6806