Vol. 71/No. 26      July 2, 2007

In recent years, Manila has begun extending its traditional close military links beyond Washington, the former colonial power. Canberra will now supply Manila with 28 fast assault boats and Australian special forces will train and exercise with Philippine troops as part of the U.S.-led “war on terrorism.”

The Philippine constitution prohibits the presence of foreign troops without a treaty. Earlier this year, Washington signed a similar pact with Manila, codifying greater direct U.S. military intervention in the country.

Large-scale exercises between Australian and Philippine troops are now planned. The Sydney Morning Herald called them “a boost to Australia’s counter-terrorism presence in the region.”

Arroyo said the pact would “help us to modernize and professionalize our armed forces. It will help us to have interoperability of all our forces in the fight against terrorism.” This fits with the push by imperialist powers to transform their militaries into leaner and more agile forces that can move to theaters of battle quickly.

The A$4 million gunboats Canberra is providing have global positioning navigation and can ferry six soldiers across shallow water at speeds of up to 60 mph. They will be used in marshes and rivers on the southern island of Mindanao to target “terrorist” groups and Muslim separatist movements, and elsewhere against rebel guerrilla fighters.

Later in the evening after the pact was signed, 90 protesters picketed a business dinner Arroyo was attending in Melbourne. “Stop the killings in the Philippines,” they demanded, referring to military repression there. They also protested the new Canberra-Manila pact.

The same day, another protest took place outside the Australian Embassy in Manila calling for “Hands Off the Philippines!” A Kilusang Mayo Uno (May First Labor Center) news release opposed Australian forces aiding the suppression of “legitimate organizations in the Philippines that are waging a struggle to free the country from foreign intervention.”

“Since 2001, 838 persons have been victims of extra-judicial killings, while hundreds more have been abducted and made to disappear,” the statement said. The Philippine military is heavily implicated in the bloodshed.
 
 
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