FACES OF PROTEST

FIL-AMS JOIN ANTI-WAR PROTESTS

Fil-Ams from as far away as New York joined a large anti-war protest in front of the White House, marking the 7th anniversary of America’s Iraq invasion.

Militant Fil-Ams called for the immediate pull-out of American forces in the Philippines.

Kim Bagliere of the Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines read a statement near the tail-end of a lengthy program at Lafayette Park, fronting the White House.

She echoed the day’s recurring theme that President Obama wasn’t doing enough to deliver on a campaign promise to end the war in Iraq and bring US troops home.




“He is the same as presidents before him, spending our tax dollars on endless wars in the name of national security while people are anything but secure,” said Chevy Evangelista, a spokesman of New York-based Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan.

Bagliere denounced what she described as the string of broken promises to the Filipino people, including the injustice foisted on thousands of aging Filipino World War II veterans.

The Fil-Am protesters also called for the scrapping of the RP-US Visiting Forces Agreement that govern the conduct of American soldiers in yearly joint military exercises in the Philippines.

A broad coalition of anti-war groups joined the protest, championing causes that ranged from the Palestinian conflict to the lingering tensions in the Korean Peninsula.



They assailed President Obama’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.

The number of US troops in Afghanistan is expected to exceed 100,000 this year.

The US will reportedly spend $72 billion this year to sustain military operations in
Afghanistan and another $65 billion in Iraq.

The crowd was visibly dominated by young activists but was joined also by American veterans of past and current wars and familiar faces in the anti-war protest scene that included Cindy Sheehan and Ralph Nader.


“Our country will continue to prioritize war at the expense of health, education and job security,” Evangelista explained.

Protesters carried flag-draped symbolic coffins to dramatize the heavy toll of America’s wars.

They marched past the offices of defense contractor Halliburton and investment house Morgan Stanley to highlight the alleged role of big business in promoting wars overseas.




An effigy of former Vice President Dick Cheney was decapitated and trampled by some protesters.





Another group of Fil-Ams joined a similar anti-war protest rally in Los Angeles, California.

"SOFT WAR" RAGING IN PHILIPPINES

From dismantling improvised bombs to extracting rotten molars, American troops in the Philippines are offering another face of the global war on terror.

Techno-savvy GIs are using the blogosphere to spread propaganda that appears increasingly essential to winning hearts and minds, and provides one of the most potent weapons in the US “soft power” arsenal.

US Army Sgt. Michael Carden described the work of a Navy colleague teaching Filipino troops in Cotabato City how to use dynamite for an electrically charged remote detonation.

“The Philippine military, including its EOD (explosives ordnance demolition) units here in central Mindanao, lack sufficient funding and fundamental equipment such as bomb suits, detection robots or expendable explosives to train with,” Carden wrote.

Carden is a member of the American Forces Press Service (AFPS), that is part of the Pentagon’s Defense Media Activity (DMA).

The DMA, which is building a new headquarters and production facility in Ft. Meade, Maryland, oversees a host of military-related media that includes the Stars & Stripes, American Forces Network, Soldiers Magazine and the Department of Defense blog, among others.

As a backlash of the initial US failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is now a greater emphasis on “soft power”, a phrase popularized by Harvard University’s Joseph Nye.

“Soft power” puts greater weight on attraction rather than force and coercion.

If Carden focused on explosives training, US Air Force Capt. Genieve David wrote about Operation Pacific Angel which aims to prevent a dengue epidemic in Northern Luzon.

David, a member of 13th Air Force Public Affairs, writes for the US Air Force Print News Today.

An excerpt from her article: “Maj. Stephen Wolf, one of only 15 entomologists in the Air Force and Julie Samson from the Laoag City department of health have gone into 17 villages and educated a total of 465 residents on methods to combat the spread of this mosquito-borne virus.”

She quotes Philippine Air Force chief veterinarian Col. Bernard Bernardo, “It’s important to establish a field preventative medicine program similar to what the US has in place because most AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) casualties are non-battle injuries like malaria or dengue.”

In a separate report datelined Marawi City, Carden wrote, “For the past 20 years, dental care has been somewhat of an afterthought in the Philippines, especially in the country’s southern provinces.”

About 97 percent of Filipinos suffer from dental illnesses such as gingivitis and that statistic hasn’t changed since 1987, he said, quoting Dr. Pamela Tabao, reportedly a dentist and health consultant for the Marawi City government.

The articles are aimed at the internal military audience as they are to an external public.

Militant Filipinos here and in the Philippines have opposed the continued US military presence in the country. They have called for the abrogation or renegotiation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

Focusing on the positive aspects of joint RP-US military activities help deflects many of the criticism against the US military in the Philippines.

But the cash-strapped Philippine military is also forced to rely on the US for help. The US provided $30 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) in 2009 – roughly equivalent to 10 percent of the AFP’s total maintenance and operations budget this year.

Not surprisingly, critics say the US is deliberately propagating the image of the Philippine’s continuing dependence on US help.

Carden recounted how one Philippine Army EOD unit found and defused over a hundred bombs since 2008.

“They went up and did their job and that’s how good they are,” he quoted US Navy Petty Officer Joseph Stutzke.

“They’re very confident and efficient, and they have the knowledge. But they could be better and much safer if they had funding for equipment.”

That’s the message that could resonate within the corridors of the Pentagon and ensure a sympathetic ear for an ally that’s simply hard pressed fighting a 40-year-old Maoist New People’s Army and the Abu Sayyaf which have been branded by the US as terrorist organizations.

RP ENVOY BACKS VETERANS SUIT

The special Philippine envoy for veterans affairs is standing behind a planned law suit to compel the US Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to accept other evidence for veterans who were rejected because they are not in the so-called Missouri List.

“I am with them in this struggle,” declared retired Brig. Gen. and special envoy Victor Corpus.

The applications of almost 9,000 veterans for lump sum payment were rejected – many reportedly because their names could not be found in the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Congress earlier voted to pay a one-time lump sum settlement of $15,000 for Filipino World War II veterans in the US, and $9,000 for those in the Philippines.

The money is compensation for the injustice arising from the 1946 Rescission Act which withdrew recognition and benefits to hundreds of thousands of Filipino soldiers and guerillas who fought for the US military in World War II.

“It is unfair to rely on this criterion in evaluating the qualification of our veterans to receive this benefit,” Corpus averred.

Lawyer Arnedo Valera and Justice for Filipino American Veterans (JFAV) national coordinator Arturo Garcia earlier revealed their intention to sue the DVA in federal court.

Valera said they will seek declaratory relief with a petition for writ of mandamus and preliminary injunction to compel the DVA to accept secondary evidence in lieu of the Missouri List.

Garcia said a 1973 fire destroyed 80 percent of US Army personnel records from 1912 to 1960. “The US is using a reconstructed list,” he explained.

He added the discrepancy was evident as late as 2001 when records of the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) and Philippine Veterans Affairs Office (PVAO) showed there were 54,000 surviving veterans in the Philippines and 18,000 in the US.

In contrast, the DVA estimate that year put the number at 24,000.

Corpus said the DVA has not provided them details of the rejections. Of the 35,715 applications received as of Feb. 1, 2010, 4,400 were rejected outright as duplications or incomplete filings.

The DVA said 8,713 applications that were accepted for processing were subsequently denied.

Corpus said he’s been trying to get an appointment with DVA Secretary Eric Shinseki since he assumed his duties in DC late last year, to no avail.

The usually soft-spoken former chief of the Philippine military intelligence arm ISAFP signaled he was ready to go out on a limb again for the veterans.

This is an issue close to his heart, he says.

His father Vicente was a Battle of Bataan veteran; and his uncle Edmundo Navarro was a guerilla leader who operated in Northern and Central Luzon during World War II. Neither of them received any benefits from the US, Corpus intimated.

“You know me. I never run away from a good fight,” he said.

Corpus, who defected to the communist New People’s Army as a young lieutenant and professor at the Philippine’s equivalent of West Point, tangled with some powerful lawmakers when he used the ISAFP to dismantle the alleged network of narco-politics in the Philippines.

The $198 million earmarked for the lump sum settlement was computed on the basis of the Missouri List. In effect, only about 18,000 veterans here and in the Philippines can get paid without asking for more money from Congress.

A total of $149 million has been paid out to 12,417 Filipino WWII veterans here and in the Philippines – meaning only about 25 percent of the money is remaining for 14,585 or 40 percent of applications still waiting to be processed.
“Obviously the money is not enough,” Corpus acknowledged.

FRAGMENTATION OF AMERICA

Many have dismissed Dr. Igor Panarin’s prediction that the United States would disintegrate into six “republics” as absurd and baseless.

His theory reportedly has wide following in the Russian government, including Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, because it bolsters their belief they are superior to the Americans.

Lawyer-accountant Leo Canseco pointed me to Panarin about two years ago.

His views were obviously overstretched, hardly founded on objective reality, and yet I was curious on how they could play out in the intricate dynamics of American racial relations, politics and economic crisis.

Panarin was trained in psychology by the KGB and earned his doctorate in political science from the Russian Academy of Public Administration in 1997.
His areas of specialization are “strategic analysis, information stream management and situation modeling of global processes”.

“I’ve studied the history of the United States and my conclusion is that it has no future,” he said in a March 2009 speech in Manila.

Panarin’s vision of a reconfigured America comprise of a “California Republic” that stretches all the way to Utah and Idaho that falls under the influence of China;

“Texas Republic” that extends as far Arkansas and Florida and falls under the influence of Mexico; “Atlantic America” that encompasses America’s northeastern states including Kentucky and Tennessee that falls under the influence of Britain or the European Union;

And opines that Alaska would revert to Russia. Hawaii falls under the sphere of either China or Japan.

Panarin told his audience in Manila last year that America’s collapse will be rooted in economic and political factors, particularly the growing mountain of debt.

“They have created in the United States a pyramid based on the dollar and they see no other way to solve this crisis,” he said.

Panarin discredited himself by predicting the disintegration should have started last autumn.

One might argue that could have been true if President Obama did not act.
The TARP and stimulus bill were expensive but necessary to rescue Wall Street and pump-prime the economy.

Still, Panarin pointed to other factors that remain sources of concern today – a declining GDP, burgeoning budget deficit and high unemployment.

The budget deficit is projected to reach $2.7 trillion in the next two years. By 2015, it will reach a whopping $4.3 trillion; and in ten years cumulative deficit will hit $8.5 trillion.

The US paid about $383 billion in interest alone for debts in 2009; by 2019, it’s estimated to reach $700 billion a year.

There is legislative gridlock over healthcare reforms, balancing the budget, jobs creation, immigration reforms, etc.

“It has suddenly become clear that the United States is in the throes of a political crisis of historic dimensions.

“There seems to be no obvious explanation for the ferocity of the political struggle between the Democrats and Republicans.

“The present crisis must arise from causes that are of a far more fundamental character. The conflict in Washington must, in the final analysis, reflect deep-rooted conflicts within American society as a whole.”

Those words were written in December 1998 about the political climate surrounding President Clinton’s impeachment.

They sounded so descriptive of what’s happening today.

Ron Fournier of the Associated Press assailed how both Republican and Democratic leaders appear to fudge the truth for political expediency.

“Such distortion and dishonesty cause Americans to be increasingly skeptical of their political institutions and leaders. Once people lose faith in the political system, they’re less likely to vote, less willing to pay taxes, less motivated to run for office themselves and – sociologist say, they’re even less likely to get involved in their own communities.”

Panarin’s prediction may have been discredited by actual events but why are some Americans giving it credence?

He was recently invited by the “Houston Tea Party Patriots” for a speaking engagement in Houston.

Some Americans have apparently found ideological refuge from an ex-KGB analyst’s view of a doomed USA to project their own paranoia and fears.

Dollar remittances from Filipinos in the United States shrunk by 6.41 percent last year – indication of lingering Fil-Am money woes as the US economy struggles to get up to its feet.

US-based Pinoys sent home over $7.32 billion last year despite the wobbling American economy.

In contrast, total remittances reached a historic $17.35 billion in 2009 – a 5.61 percent jump over the previous year, according to Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) statistics revealed this week.

The year-end aggregate was boosted in part by an 11 percent increase last December, compared to December 2008.

“The geographical diversification of OFWs has contributed to the resilience of remittance inflows,” the BSP observed.

But the money sent home from the US last year was actually a 6.41 percent decline compared to the $7.82 billion remitted in 2008.

This was the first contraction of money sent home by Filipinos in the US.

The BSP said major sources of remittances were the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Japan, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Italy and Germany.
However, the share of dollar receipts coming from Filipinos in the US decreased from 47.6 percent in 2008, to 42.3 percent in 2009.

Some say this is symptomic of economic difficulties in the US, as thousands of Fil-Ams remain jobless, face home foreclosures and struggle with mounting debt.

“Not all host countries were severely affected by the global financial crisis,” the BSP reported, “Middle East countries continue to absorb significant number of deployed OFWs, including those that have been displaced elsewhere.”

The BSP also noted a spike in money transfers since October as overseas Filipinos supported rebuilding efforts of their families affected by typhoons and floods.

PINOYS TOP ASIAN SOURCE OF ILLEGALS IN U-S, 5TH OVERALL

Filipinos comprised the 5th biggest pool – and the top among Asian countries – of illegal immigrants in the United States, the latest Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report revealed.

“Mexico continued to be the leading source of unauthorized immigration to the United States in 2009, representing 62 percent of the unauthorized population,” the DHS report said, “The next leading source countries of unauthorized immigrants in 2009 were El Salvador (530,000), Guatemala (480,000), Honduras (320,000) and the Philippines (270,000).”

The total illegal immigrant population actually decreased last year, from an estimated 11.6 million in January 2008 to 10.8 million in January 2009.

Professor Peter Chua of San Jose State University in California estimated the number of undocumented Filipino immigrants closer to one million.

The DHS arrived at the numbers by subtracting the total foreign-born population (31.2 million) with the total legal resident population (20.5 million) as of January 2009.

The illegal immigrant population expanded by 27 percent from 2000 to 2009, the report added.

Nearly one-fourth of illegal immigrants live in California (where there's an estimated 2.6 million). This is followed by Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois.

The agency said the average unauthorized immigrant is relatively young (25-44 years old) and male (58%).

In 2008, the DHS arrested nearly 380,000 immigrants and deported 358,000.

The report attributed the decrease in illegal immigration to the US economic downturn.

The majority of unauthorized immigrants entered the US before 2000, the report said,

NEW ROLE FOR HISTORIC R-P CHANCERY

(Excerpts from an article I wrote for Pinoy Herald, Feb. 2010 edition)

A blast from the past, the historic Philippine chancery finally reopens its doors in a few weeks.

And to think the structure was in danger of being condemned just last year. A fire gutted its interior, was dangerously decrepit and infested by rodents. The DC government slapped it a $36,000 tax.

Consul General Domingo Nolasco revealed construction is in full swing – they’re using the first floor for consular services – and expected to be completed in March.

“This is going to be a big help for the hundreds of people who have to transact business with the consular section,” he explained.

The present consular office can probably comfortably accommodate only 20 people, forcing the spillover to wait outside – an unwelcome proposition in winter or in the peak of summer.

“We have to be concerned because many come from really far away places, some as far away as Alabama, Tennessee or Florida just to work on their papers,” Nolasco said.

The old chancery stands opposite the present Philippine Embassy building along Massachusetts Ave. NW. It was purchased in the 1930s by Resident Commissioner (the Philippine representative to the US Congress) Joaquin Elizalde. It served as the seat of the Philippine government-in-exile during World War II.

Nolasco said they are still spending under budget, which amounts to $350,000.
He asserts the money spent for renovating the old chancery is an investment.

Consular services not only generate revenues, it will also boost chances the historic edifice’s diplomatic privilege can be restored and the Philippines will be spared paying taxes on the property.

RP TAPS COVINGTON FOR FRESH P-R PUSH

(Excerpts from an article in Pinoy Herald Feb. 2010 edition)

The government is set to tap anew the influential Washington DC lobby group Covington & Burling LLP to help win a reported $439 million Compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) and convince the US Congress to lift human rights conditions for military aid, among others.

Ambassador Willy Gaa posted a notice in the Philippine Embassy website to renew the services of former US Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, a senior partner at Covington & Burling LLP and chair of its international practice.

Eizenstat said they played “an important role” in pushing for the $198 million lump sum payment to Filipino World War II veterans, as well as the resolution of a longstanding tax dispute between the Philippines and New York City.

Eizenstat was chief White House domestic policy adviser to President Jimmy Carter, US Ambassador to the European Union and Deputy Secretary of the Treasury under the Clinton administration.

Covington & Burling, established in 1919, is one of the oldest and most influential law firms in Washington DC.

The lobbying contract will run for six months for an undisclosed amount. The earlier contract in January 2008, which also lasted six months, cost $500,000.

“There is nothing unusual. This is just how it’s done here,” explained Consul General Domingo Nolasco.

The website OpenSecrets.org estimated total spending to lobby Congress and federal agencies reached $2.5 billion in 2009 – actually a decline from a peak of $3.3 billion in 2008.

Covington isn’t the only group being used by Philippine interests. Sorini, Samet & Associates is working on Capitol Hill for duty-free exports of Philippine apparel using US-made textiles.

Also, the Philippines reportedly tapped US apparel executive Fiona Ki to identify fabric needs in the Philippines for US textile mills.

If that bill pushes through, it could be worth at least $1 billion for Philippine garment manufacturers.

Eizenstat’s lobby efforts are expected to center on addressing two key sore points – corruption and human rights.

The country is on the verge of winning Compact status with the MCC, but the Arroyo administration flunked the critical corruption test for two years in a row.

Approval is expected in Fiscal 2010, which actually started September 2009, but the Philippines failed to make the grade.

Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) president Reynaldo David said in early January, the bank was ready to support “negotiating for the MCC terms and conditions which will be cut in preparation for the execution of the Compact agreement in Washington DC in April”.

But obviously, the key is overcoming MCC’s corruption concerns, and Eizenstat is reportedly confident he can help.

He’ll also be busy convincing US lawmakers to lift human rights conditions to the $30million Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to the Philippines.

The US Congress placed a $2 million caveat to the military aid. The State Department must certify the government is not using that aid to suppress legitimate dissent.

The Obama administration only last week submitted a foreign aid budget that featured a hefty increase in development assistance but cut in half military aid to the Philippines.

2010 BLIZZARD (A.K.A. SNOWMAGGEDON IN DC)

These pictures were taken about 11:00 AM of Saturday, Feb. 6 -- about 24 hours after the first snow flakes fell in Alexandria, Virginia (if forecasts run true, we're in for another 12-16 hours of this).

Traffic is nearly at a standstill but news broadcasts are showing people coming out to the streets despite appeals for everyone to stay home (heard there are snowball fights set in DuPont Circle in DC and College Park, Maryland).


About 13 inches of snow was recorded at the Reagan Airport (as of this posting), although measurements in other parts of Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC show as much as 30 inches, with more coming. The Blizzard of 2010 could beat the 1922 snowfall record (28 inches).

Total snowfall this season is already nearing the 40-inch mark . Reports suggest this could be the "snowiest" winter ever for Washington DC.

WINTER CAMOUFLAGE

"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending" - J.R.R. Tolkien

BEST SERVED COLD

FROZEN ON THE EDGE

SNOW BUDS

OBAMA AID BUDGET FOR RP: MORE ECONOMIC, LESS MILITARY HELP

Total American aid to the Philippines is projected to increase slightly, giving more emphasis on development assistance and less on beefing up the Philippine military, according to President Obama’s budget for the fiscal year until September 30, 2011.

The State Department’s Foreign Operations budget showed total assistance to the Philippines increasing from $114.7 million in 2008 to $124.3 million in 2010 (estimated).

Development Assistance and the Economic Support Fund (ESF) totaled $55.0 million 2008. This is projected to grow to $71.3 million, although all of it will be in Development Assistance.

Foreign Military Financing is projected to decrease from $27.7 million in 2008 to $15.6 million.

The State Department had similarly recommended a reduction in military aid in 2008-09 but lobbying by Philippine officials convinced the Congress to restore the cut, so the Philippines was actually allocated $32 million last year, according to State Department documents.

However, human rights concerns, particularly over unsolved extrajudicial killings allegedly perpetrated by members of the police and military continued to hound the government, prompting Congress to attach a caveat to $2 million of the total military aid on a State Department certification the Philippines was not using US military aid to suppress legitimate political dissent.

The 2010 budget provides higher amounts for International Military Education & Training (from $1.5 million to $2 million); Non-proliferation and Anti-Terrorism programs (from $4.6 million to $5.6 million); International Narcotics Control & Law Enforcement (from $794,000 to $2.4 million).

US Agency for International Development (USAID) budget is also projected to increase from nearly $25 million in 2008 to $32.5 million).

These amounts have to be approved by both chambers of Congress.

President Obama’s $3.83 trillion budget is expected to face tough sailing in Congress as the American public grows weary of looming massive deficits that’s estimated to reach $1.56 trillion in 2010.