AJLPP Update

January 21, 2009

AJLPP Condemns the Mercenary US Philippine Force Under the UN

Los Angeles—The Alliance-Philippines (AJLPP) express disgust in the mercenary tradition of the AFP and the supposed Filipino pride in the appointment of a Filipino general in the United Nations forces serving under the direction of US Imperialism.

General Ecarma of the Philipine Marines was formally appointed on Monday by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon as force commander and head of mission for the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) in what was once the battleground of the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and Syria.

The unit is composed of troops from Austria, Canada, Croatia, India, Japan and the Philippines, and includes 75 military observers, 39 international staff members, and 105 local civilians.

Ecarma’s appointment came almost 10 years after another Filipino, Army Maj. Gen. Jaime de los Santos, was named commander of UN peacekeeping forces in East Timor, the secretary noted. It also came three months after the Philippines deployed a 336-member infantry battalion to the Golan Heights to assume peacekeeping responsibilities previously handled by Poland.

Long Mercenary Tradition of the AFP

The AJLPP said, “There is nothing to be proud of in being mercenary troops of the United States. This is not new thing considering the Spanish used Filipino troops in its colonial forays into Indochina and against the British Army and against the US occupation forces in 1989.

Under the US colonial rule, Filipino troops fought two world wars in Europe and in Asia from 1900 t0 1946. They US Army formed the Philippine Scouts as garrison forces against Japan after 1945. The new republic sent AFP troops under the United Nations in the 1950 to fight in Korea from 1950-1953. It was called Philippine Expeditionary Forces in Korea (PEPTOK).

The Philippine media reported that the Philippines has a long peacekeeping tradition dating back to 1963 when it deployed a squadron from the Philippine Air Force to support UN operations in the Congo. But they failed to report that he US Imperialism under the guise of the UN safekeeping with the Belgian overthrew the government of Patrice Lumumba and installed a military junta under Moise Tsombe.

In 1967, under Marcos, the Philippines send the Philippine Civic Action Group (PHILCAG) in Vietnam. Under the US-Arroyo regime, the Philippines sent troops to Iraq and Haiti,” the AJLPP narrated.

23rd top troop contributor

Established by the Security Council at the end of the Arab-Israeli War in 1974, UNDOF is tasked to maintain the ceasefire and supervise the disengagement of Israel and Syrian forces and the so-called Areas of Separation and Limitation between the two parties.

As of last year, the Philippines was 23rd in the UN list of top troop contributing nations. The country has a total of 1,056 officers and personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police serving in Afghanistan, Cote d’Ivoire, Darfur, Golan Heights, Haiti, Kashmir, Liberia, Timor-Leste and Sudan.