20 International EIR November 7, 2014
Has Obama Lost Control
Of the Philippines?
by Mike Billington
Nov. 2—The Philippines appears to be waking up to the
disaster planned for it by President Obama and his controllers
in London.
Obama’s war plan against Russia and China has, as
a key component, the transformation of the Philippines
into a U.S. military base, with U.S. air, land, and sea
forces deployed on Philippine military bases across the
archipelago. To that end, the Obama Administration has
pushed the maleable President Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino to agree to the U.S. military takeover of the
nation (despite a Philippine Constitutional restriction
against any foreign military bases on its soil), and to
work up the Philippine population into a rage against
China.
Obama demanded that the Philippines reject China’s
longstanding offer to put aside territorial issues in
favor of joint development of the contested regions of
the South China Sea. Instead, there have been wild accusations
in the press that China is intent on taking over
Philippine territory, or even taking over the Philippines
itself.
That ploy worked well for awhile, with Aquino
and the media ringing alarm bells about Chinese imperial
ambitions. The head of the Philippine La-
Rouche Society, Antonio “Butch” Valdes, was essentially
alone in the country, warning, in numerous TV
and radio interviews, that the nation was being set up
for destruction in a British-American imperial war
against China, driven not by Chinese actions, but by
the collapse of the Western financial system, and the
British Empire’s desperation to break up the Russia-
China-India cooperation in establishing a new world
order, based on development among sovereign nations,
most recently consolidated in the burst of development
coming from the BRICS nations (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and their
allies.
But things are changing in the Philippines, as a
growing number of Filipino leaders of various political
persuasions have become aware that Obama is losing
power, is probably going down even before the next
U.S. Presidential election, and that his puppet Noynoy
Aquino is likely to go down with him. Suddenly, even
some members of the Philippine oligarchy have decided
to take note of the fact that the economy is in a
tailspin, creating desperate poverty and hunger, while
much of Asia in experiencing growth in league with
China, while the bravado about “standing up to Chinese
aggression” is likely to spark a war.
Resistance
There have been three phases of the shift in the
Philippines. First, the Obama-Aquino deal to transform
the nation into a U.S. military base has run into
serious problems. There has been significant popular
discontent, and Phillipine Congressional opposition
to the reoccupation of the nation by the U.S. military.
Back in 1991, the Senate voted to throw out the U.S.
bases that had been there since 1898, when the U.S. defeated
Spain in the Spanish-American War, and occupied
its Philippine colony. The Philippine Congress
even amended the Constitution to forbid any foreign
bases on their soil—very much against the wishes of
then-President Cory Aquino, who had been placed in
office after the U.S.-directed coup against nationalist
President Ferdinand Marcos. But the Constitution was
ignored by Aquino’s son Noynoy.
However, those in opposition to the U.S. military
occupation did not identify its broader intention: confrontation
with China.
The second phase came in August and October in
the form of public declarations from the National Transformation
Council, composed of religious and other institutional
leaders from Mindanao, demanding that
Noynoy step down, and expressing a national moral indignation
at the President’s corruption—bribing the
Congress, misuse of state funds, and other crimes. Still,
the declarations did not address the danger of war and
economic decay brought on by Aquino’s insane China
policy.
The AIIB and War
Then, on Oct. 24, a rather unexpected development
occurred, when the Philippines signed on as 1 of the 21
founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB), initially proposed by China and one
of the crucial innovations by the BRICS nations to
counter the refusal of the IMF, World Bank, and Asian
November 7, 2014 EIR International 21
Developemnt Bank to lend money for long-term basic
infrastructure, and without austerity or “green” conditionalities.
The Philippines signing onto the Chinese
initiative was all the more unexpected in light of the
fact that the Obama Administration quite openly pressured
nations to boycott the AIIB.
In the last week of October, the message of pending
disaster coming from the Philippine LaRouche Society
finally broke through the containment in the Philippines,
although ironically, from an unexpected source—
former President Gen. Fidel Ramos, who was the instrument
of the 1986 coup against Marcos, and a
champion, until now, of the U.S. military occupation of
the country.
In a speech in Manila, sponsored by the Manila
Times on Oct. 29, Ramos demanded that the Philippines
restore close relations with China, warning of the
danger of both global war, and the continuing collapse
of the Philippine economy, if the current approach
were continued. Ramos said: “We should agree that
our two countries should return to business as usual,”
adding that he does not see the possibility of Beijing
resorting to war. “If one strikes, there will be counterstrikes
until we obliterate the planet and humanity,” he
said.
“In recent months, relations between our two nations,
and even with other countries in our Asia-Pacific
region, have been disturbed by misunderstanding and
alarmist speculation injurious to the stability not only
of China and the Philippines but also the Asia Pacific
region,” Ramos noted. “We know all too well that without
stability, business cannot run; people cannot create
wealth; and nations cannot progress.
“The distribution of power in the world is changing
in a very basic way,” he said. “The very center of global
gravity is moving away from the Atlantic, where it had
been during the past 150 years, and tilting toward the
Asia-Pacific region. For good or ill, China has become
a global power and a pillar of the international system.”
Ramos pointed to the collapse of the Philippines
over the past decades: “Over the years, Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and
most recently Vietnam, have transformed their economies
dramatically. How did our East Asia neighbors do
it? Through intelligent industrialization managed by
partnerships between strong states and entrepreneurial
family conglomerates. In one generation, South Korea,
Taiwan, and Singapore have all risen from Third World
to First World rank.”
Ramos was joined in the forum by former Amb. Roberto
Romulo, who is now the chairperson of AIG Philippine
Insurance (founded by Hank Greenberg, who
played a leading role in the coup against Marcos).
Romulo said that China’s rise “is a reality that we have
to accept. Engagement and mutual accommodation is
unavoidable.”
He even attacked Noynoy Aquino for taking the territorial
issue over islands contested with China to international
arbitration: “Although the Philippine government
has the right to seek international arbitration, such
as the filing of a memorial before the United Nations
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to assert its
sovereignty over contested rocks and shoals in the
Spratlys, by doing so, the country only further dampened
the soured relations between the two countries,”
Romulo said. He pointed to the severe impact on the
economy: “Technology transfer arrangements, virtually
ceased . . . poor performance of the Philippines relative
to ASEAN can be attributed to hesitancy in trusting
our economic future, [and] our own anemic
economic growth. [China has a] huge potential for us,
but we are not in a position to take advantage of China’s
potential.”
Most important, Romulo said the Philippine government’s
position on leaning toward the United States
for help has only made matters more complicated. “Because
of our lack of military wherewithal, we involved
the American mantle of protection. We took the U.S.
side of freedom of navigation,” said Romulo, noting
that the Chinese had been proposing to shelve the issue
of sovereignty and opt for joint development of the sea
resources. Romulo said the Philippines must acccept
this approach.
Why?
It must be concluded that at least some of the Philippine
oligarchs see the handwriting on the wall—that
Obama is going down, and that Aquino will almost certainly
follow when his protector loses power. Rather
than accept what is now unmistakeable—that the Philippines
will collapse even further economically, and
perhaps become cannon fodder in a global war, if they
continue the current course, they have chosen to end the
madness of confronting China. Whether Aquino will
fall in line, or be forced from office, will be determined
soon.
Has Obama Lost Control
Of the Philippines?
by Mike Billington
Nov. 2—The Philippines appears to be waking up to the
disaster planned for it by President Obama and his controllers
in London.
Obama’s war plan against Russia and China has, as
a key component, the transformation of the Philippines
into a U.S. military base, with U.S. air, land, and sea
forces deployed on Philippine military bases across the
archipelago. To that end, the Obama Administration has
pushed the maleable President Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino to agree to the U.S. military takeover of the
nation (despite a Philippine Constitutional restriction
against any foreign military bases on its soil), and to
work up the Philippine population into a rage against
China.
Obama demanded that the Philippines reject China’s
longstanding offer to put aside territorial issues in
favor of joint development of the contested regions of
the South China Sea. Instead, there have been wild accusations
in the press that China is intent on taking over
Philippine territory, or even taking over the Philippines
itself.
That ploy worked well for awhile, with Aquino
and the media ringing alarm bells about Chinese imperial
ambitions. The head of the Philippine La-
Rouche Society, Antonio “Butch” Valdes, was essentially
alone in the country, warning, in numerous TV
and radio interviews, that the nation was being set up
for destruction in a British-American imperial war
against China, driven not by Chinese actions, but by
the collapse of the Western financial system, and the
British Empire’s desperation to break up the Russia-
China-India cooperation in establishing a new world
order, based on development among sovereign nations,
most recently consolidated in the burst of development
coming from the BRICS nations (Brazil,
Russia, India, China, and South Africa) and their
allies.
But things are changing in the Philippines, as a
growing number of Filipino leaders of various political
persuasions have become aware that Obama is losing
power, is probably going down even before the next
U.S. Presidential election, and that his puppet Noynoy
Aquino is likely to go down with him. Suddenly, even
some members of the Philippine oligarchy have decided
to take note of the fact that the economy is in a
tailspin, creating desperate poverty and hunger, while
much of Asia in experiencing growth in league with
China, while the bravado about “standing up to Chinese
aggression” is likely to spark a war.
Resistance
There have been three phases of the shift in the
Philippines. First, the Obama-Aquino deal to transform
the nation into a U.S. military base has run into
serious problems. There has been significant popular
discontent, and Phillipine Congressional opposition
to the reoccupation of the nation by the U.S. military.
Back in 1991, the Senate voted to throw out the U.S.
bases that had been there since 1898, when the U.S. defeated
Spain in the Spanish-American War, and occupied
its Philippine colony. The Philippine Congress
even amended the Constitution to forbid any foreign
bases on their soil—very much against the wishes of
then-President Cory Aquino, who had been placed in
office after the U.S.-directed coup against nationalist
President Ferdinand Marcos. But the Constitution was
ignored by Aquino’s son Noynoy.
However, those in opposition to the U.S. military
occupation did not identify its broader intention: confrontation
with China.
The second phase came in August and October in
the form of public declarations from the National Transformation
Council, composed of religious and other institutional
leaders from Mindanao, demanding that
Noynoy step down, and expressing a national moral indignation
at the President’s corruption—bribing the
Congress, misuse of state funds, and other crimes. Still,
the declarations did not address the danger of war and
economic decay brought on by Aquino’s insane China
policy.
The AIIB and War
Then, on Oct. 24, a rather unexpected development
occurred, when the Philippines signed on as 1 of the 21
founding members of the Asian Infrastructure Investment
Bank (AIIB), initially proposed by China and one
of the crucial innovations by the BRICS nations to
counter the refusal of the IMF, World Bank, and Asian
November 7, 2014 EIR International 21
Developemnt Bank to lend money for long-term basic
infrastructure, and without austerity or “green” conditionalities.
The Philippines signing onto the Chinese
initiative was all the more unexpected in light of the
fact that the Obama Administration quite openly pressured
nations to boycott the AIIB.
In the last week of October, the message of pending
disaster coming from the Philippine LaRouche Society
finally broke through the containment in the Philippines,
although ironically, from an unexpected source—
former President Gen. Fidel Ramos, who was the instrument
of the 1986 coup against Marcos, and a
champion, until now, of the U.S. military occupation of
the country.
In a speech in Manila, sponsored by the Manila
Times on Oct. 29, Ramos demanded that the Philippines
restore close relations with China, warning of the
danger of both global war, and the continuing collapse
of the Philippine economy, if the current approach
were continued. Ramos said: “We should agree that
our two countries should return to business as usual,”
adding that he does not see the possibility of Beijing
resorting to war. “If one strikes, there will be counterstrikes
until we obliterate the planet and humanity,” he
said.
“In recent months, relations between our two nations,
and even with other countries in our Asia-Pacific
region, have been disturbed by misunderstanding and
alarmist speculation injurious to the stability not only
of China and the Philippines but also the Asia Pacific
region,” Ramos noted. “We know all too well that without
stability, business cannot run; people cannot create
wealth; and nations cannot progress.
“The distribution of power in the world is changing
in a very basic way,” he said. “The very center of global
gravity is moving away from the Atlantic, where it had
been during the past 150 years, and tilting toward the
Asia-Pacific region. For good or ill, China has become
a global power and a pillar of the international system.”
Ramos pointed to the collapse of the Philippines
over the past decades: “Over the years, Japan, South
Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and
most recently Vietnam, have transformed their economies
dramatically. How did our East Asia neighbors do
it? Through intelligent industrialization managed by
partnerships between strong states and entrepreneurial
family conglomerates. In one generation, South Korea,
Taiwan, and Singapore have all risen from Third World
to First World rank.”
Ramos was joined in the forum by former Amb. Roberto
Romulo, who is now the chairperson of AIG Philippine
Insurance (founded by Hank Greenberg, who
played a leading role in the coup against Marcos).
Romulo said that China’s rise “is a reality that we have
to accept. Engagement and mutual accommodation is
unavoidable.”
He even attacked Noynoy Aquino for taking the territorial
issue over islands contested with China to international
arbitration: “Although the Philippine government
has the right to seek international arbitration, such
as the filing of a memorial before the United Nations
International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea to assert its
sovereignty over contested rocks and shoals in the
Spratlys, by doing so, the country only further dampened
the soured relations between the two countries,”
Romulo said. He pointed to the severe impact on the
economy: “Technology transfer arrangements, virtually
ceased . . . poor performance of the Philippines relative
to ASEAN can be attributed to hesitancy in trusting
our economic future, [and] our own anemic
economic growth. [China has a] huge potential for us,
but we are not in a position to take advantage of China’s
potential.”
Most important, Romulo said the Philippine government’s
position on leaning toward the United States
for help has only made matters more complicated. “Because
of our lack of military wherewithal, we involved
the American mantle of protection. We took the U.S.
side of freedom of navigation,” said Romulo, noting
that the Chinese had been proposing to shelve the issue
of sovereignty and opt for joint development of the sea
resources. Romulo said the Philippines must acccept
this approach.
Why?
It must be concluded that at least some of the Philippine
oligarchs see the handwriting on the wall—that
Obama is going down, and that Aquino will almost certainly
follow when his protector loses power. Rather
than accept what is now unmistakeable—that the Philippines
will collapse even further economically, and
perhaps become cannon fodder in a global war, if they
continue the current course, they have chosen to end the
madness of confronting China. Whether Aquino will
fall in line, or be forced from office, will be determined
soon.
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