The passage of the anti-terror bill is expected to spur more economic and military aid for the Arroyo government, in exchange for deepening its involvement in the U.S.-led “War on Terror” and protecting America’s economic stake in the Philippines, independent think-tank IBON Foundation said Sept. 1. Posted by Bulatlat.com The passage of the anti-terror bill…
Tags: Visiting Forces Agreement
Exclusive Witness to Subic Rape Case Breaks Silence
A new witness to the alleged rape by six U.S. marines of a 22-year old Filipina has emerged. In an exclusive interview with Bulatlat, the witness narrated how an “almost naked woman” from a Starex van was dumped almost in front of her on that fateful night of November 1. She also said an orange…
U.S. Custody of 6 Marines Unconstitutional
By Atty. Neri Javier Colmenares COUNSELS FOR THE DEFENSE OF LIBERTIES (CODAL) Posted by Bulatlat.com Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be committing a culpable violation of the 1987 Constitution if she allows the United States to continue exercising absolute custody over the six US Marines accused of rape and transfer the accused to Okinawa, Japan. Under…
Rape Case as a Political Issue
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye’s statement last week calling on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s opponents and critics to refrain from making a political issue out of the Subic rape case misses the whole point — that the rape of a Filipina by visiting U.S. troops cannot be anything but a political issue. BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO Bulatlat.com…
Women’s Groups Picket U.S. Embassy, Demand U.S. Troops’ Pull-out from RP
Members of the women’s groups Gabriela and Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) picketed the U.S. Embassy in Manila Nov. 5 to condemn the rape of a 22-year-old Filipina in Subic, Zambales (138 kms. north of Manila) by six U.S. Marine servicemen on Nov. 1. They demanded the pull-out of U.S. troops from the Philippines and called…
Gloria Will Stand by the U.S. in Subic Gang Rape
The record of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the U.S. government reveals that she will not likely support any legal action against five U.S. Marines who are accused of gang-raping a Filipino woman on Nov. 1. By Bulatlat The record of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)…
Hadlangan! VFA!
This poem was written by Gelacio Guillermo in 1998 in the heat of the debates on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). Written in Filipino, this creates scenarios if the VFA were approved, a decision that the Philippine Senate eventually did in 1999. The recent case of the alleged rape of a young woman by six…
Injustice Amid Subservience
The chances that justice will come for the 22-year-old Filipina who has accused six US soldiers of raping her last November 1 inside the former US base in Subic, Olongapo City is no better than previous cases of rape and even homicide that were lodged against members of the US military during the heyday of…