TOOLKIT FOR DISMANTLING THE ARROYO KILLING MACHINE IN THE PHILIPPINES (tags)
On this May 14 election week, the brutal Arroyo regime in the Philippines backed by the Bush administration is facing the people's judgment for "crimes against humanity." This essay reflects on themes and issues surrounding the crisis of the neocolonial polity in the context of Bush's war of terror and barbaric, predatory globalized capital's assault on the peoples of the world.
FILIPINA MILITANTS CONDEMN ARROYO-BUSH FOR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY (tags)
The 2nd session of the Permanent People's Tribunal (March 21-25, The Hague, Netherlands) marks a historic milestone in the Filipino people's struggle for social justice and true independence from U.S. imperialism and predatory global capital. This brief report sums up the major achievement of the Tribunal, highlighting the role of progressive Filipina women in the fight for freedom and people's liberation.
In the light of the profound economic and political crisis in the Philippines today, what could be the significance of celebrating the one-hundred year anniversary of the coming of Filipino contract labor to Hawaii? Are Filipinos the new compradors for the militarist U.S. Empire? Or are they harbingers of a new generation of combatants from the oppressed communities? At the turn of the century, the revolutionary organizer Rosa Luxemburg elegized the dismal plight of the subjugated natives. Today, US Special Forces are back to reconquer the neocolony, with the natives no longer smiling, now up in arms, united with people of color in Venezuela, Palestine, Hawaii, Nepal, Mexico, and other battlefronts of our beleaguered planet. Whither the Filipino diaspora?
Self-educated at the Los Angeles Public Library in the Thirties, Carlos Bulosan, the militant Filipino writer and labor activist, died on September 11, 1956. His death anniversary last month provided the occasion for the Filipino community to celebrate his contribution to the revolutionary struggle of peoples everywhere for justice, dignity, and self-determination. Bulosan was part of the community of progressive Los Angeles-based intellectuals (Carey McWilliams, Sanora Babb, Louis Adamic, Ring Lardner Jr. and others) victimized by McCarthyism and fascist reaction. His example of resistance continues to inspire people of color everywhere.