U.S. Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines This page intentionally left blank U.S. Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines E. San Juan, Jr. U.S. IMPERIALISM AND REVOLUTION IN THE PHILIPPINES Copyright © E. San Juan, Jr., 2007. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-8376-3 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. First published in 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™ 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010 and Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England RG21 6XS. Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-53922-2 ISBN 978-0-230-60703-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230607033 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data San Juan, E. (Epifanio), 1938– U.S. imperialism and revolution in the Philippines / by E. San Juan, Jr. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-349-53922-2 1. Philippines—History—1898– 2. Mindanao Island (Philippines)—History—Autonomy and independence movements. I. Title. DS685.S22 2007 959.9’031—dc22 2007003111 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Scribe Inc. First edition: September 2007 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of Eden Marcellana, Juvy Magsino, Leima Fortu, Eddie Gumanoy, Melita Trinidad Carvajal, Ofelia Rodriguez, Benjaline Hernandez, Alyce Omengan Claver, Diosdado Fortuna, Lizelda Estorba-Cuñado, Markus Bangit, Victoria Samonte, Jose Maria Cui, and all other victims of political extrajudical killings in the Philippines; and to all the martyrs of the struggle for justice, equality, and national liberation. This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgments ix Introduction xi 1. Post-9/11 Warnings: The Return of the Anglo Conquistadors 1 2. Imperialism Under Its Victims’ Eyes 21 3. Symbolizing Resistance against Empire 45 4. Language and Decolonization 67 5. Understanding the Bangsa Moro Struggle for Self-Determination 89 6. Terrorism and Popular Insurgency 113 7. Emergency Passage to the Liberated Zones 135 Afterword 163 References 181 Appendices 203 Index 255 About the Author 265 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments In the long march to the liberated zone within reach—not yet to the kingdom of free- dom from necessity—one incurs numerous debts, some slight and some enormous. One can no longer distinguish which one is which in the course of revisions, additions, and subtractions. And so the listing of names here should not be interpreted as prefer- ential election. In any event, I want to thank the following for tirelessly supporting this project: Dr. Michael Martin, Director of Black and Third World Cinema, University of Indiana; Dr. Sam Noumoff, emeritus professor, McGill University; and Professor Peter McLaren, UCLA, a world-renowned educator and inspiration of progressive teachers everywhere. I am indebted to Prof. Kenneth Bauzon for his durable comradeship in our com- mon endeavors, as well as to the following colleagues for sharing their “symbolic capi- tal” and other resources: Arif Dirlik, David Palumbo-Liu, Douglas Allen, Paul Wong, Dick Bennett, Jorshinelle Sonza, Jinqi Ling, Jeffrey Cabusao, Anne Lacsamana, John Streamas, Csaba Polony, Joel Wendland, Lester Ruiz, Bill Fletcher, and, in particular, Jim Zwick, whose knowledge of U.S. imperialism in the Philippines (evinced in his well-known Internet archive Sentenaryo) is wider and deeper than those of many aca- demic officeholders. As examples of activists unifying theory and practice, I am grateful to the kasamas and cultural workers of SANDIWA, PHILIPPINE FORUM, BULATLAT, CON- TEND, and other institutions, among them: Mike Viola, Freedom Siyam, Julia Camagong, Robert Roy, Bobby Tuazon, Sarah Raymundo, Roland Tolentino, Danilo Arao, Judy Taguiwalo, Doti Abaya, Dennis Guevarra, Karina Bolasco, Ave Perez Jacob, and Rogelio Mangahas. I also want to acknowledge the help of the following public “intellectuals” (in Gramsci’s sense): Tomas Talledo, Roland Simbulan, Joi Barrios, Bienvenido Lumbera, Delfin Tolentino, Jr., and Elmer Ordoñez at the University of the Philippines; and Lulu Torres, Soledad Reyes, Joseph Lim, Esther Pacheco, and Maria Corazon Baytion at the Ateneo de Manila University. For assistance on various occa- sions, I want to thank former U.P. President Francisco Nemenzo, Jr., Ms. Ana Maria Nemenzo, Prof. Preachy Legasto of the U.P. Diliman Review, and Profs. Clodualdo del Mundo, Jr., and David Bayot, both of De La Salle University. Special thanks to Marie Hilao-Enriquez and Ruth Cervantes of KARAPATAN for their help and permission in reproducing their 2006 Human Rights Report; to Dr. Angelica M. Gonzales and the International Coordinating Secretariat of the Permanent IX X •ACKNOWLEDGMENTS People’s Tribunal, Second Session on the Philippines, for providing the final document of the Tribunal’s Verdict; and to Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo, chairperson of BAYAN (Bagong Alyansang Makabayan) for her solidarity and example. Last but not least, I want to thank my friends abroad for their support: Professor Pauline Eadie (University of Nottingham), Prof. William Boelhower (University of Padova), Prof. Pierre Lantz of the Sorbonne, Prof. Ping-hui Liao (National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan), Dr. Lee Yu-cheng (Academia Sinica), Prof. Wolfgang Fritz Haug, Dr. Rainer Werning, and Prof. Yoshiko Nagano (Kanagawa University, Japan). Anyone who finds this book useful is indebted also to Dr. Delia D. Aguilar, with- out whose critical advice and sustenance this book would not have materialized— Salamat nang walang hanggan, as the poet once said. For errors, oversights, and other flaws, I alone am responsible. —E. San Juan, Jr. Storrs, CT, USA-Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines Introduction n February 2006, President Gloria Arroyo of the Philippines issued Proclamation 1017 instituting emergency rule. Arresting nationalist legislators, Arroyo claimed I that this measure was meant to protect the Republic from a rightist military coup aided somewhat implausibly by “communist” guerillas. This provoked a scathing edito- rial in the New York Times (April 5, 2006) censuring Arroyo for betraying the ideals of the 1986 “People Power” movement that brought down the Marcos dictatorship (sup- ported by various U.S. administrations) and ushered back U.S.-style “elite democracy.” The authoritarian Arroyo has been universally condemned for crony corruption, vote- rigging, intimidation of critical journalists, and general indifference to the worst record so far of human-rights violations in the country’s history (see Afterword). Except for natural disasters and kidnapping of Western tourists, the Philippines had been ignored by the Western mass media—until September 19, 2001, when the country was trans- formed overnight into the second battlefront in the global war on terrorism (after Afghanistan), especially in the wake of unexpected counter-insurgency disasters in Iraq. The Philippines was the first colonial possession of the United States in Southeast Asia following the Spanish-American War at the turn of the last century. Unlike the conquest of Cuba, Puerto Rico, or Hawaii, the United States encountered fierce resist- ance from the revolutionary forces of the first Philippine Republic that had already van- quished the moribund Spanish colonial authority. This episode in the vicissitudes of U.S. “Manifest Destiny” had been effectively obscured or obliterated from public memory—from textbooks and public fora—until the Vietnam War revived the hor- rors of an anti-imperialist guerilla war first conducted by the Filipinos against over one hundred thousand U.S. troops sent to pacify the islands and “civilize” the natives. Only one North American historian, Gabriel Kolko, dared estimate the political import and moral resonance of this outrage in this all-encompassing indictment: Violence reached a crescendo against the Indian after the Civil War and found a yet blood- ier manifestation during the protracted conquest of the Philippines from 1898 until well into the next decade, when anywhere from 200,000 to 600,000 Filipinos were killed in an orgy of racist slaughter that evoked much congratulation and approval from the eminent journals and men of the era who were also much concerned about progress and stability at home....[T]he first American entry [into Asia]—and the most ignored—was the bloody XI XII •INTRODUCTION acquisition of the Philippines and the long repression,. which was required when the Americans found that in order really to take the islands, they had first to retrieve it by force and chicanery from a Filipino independence movement largely in control at the end of the war with Spain. Americans, with few exceptions, refused to reflect on the enormity of this crime, which it later repeated again in a yet more brutal form in Vietnam. But it was from this island base, held firmly in hand with terrible force, and then also co-option and cul- tural imperialism, that the United States was to embark on its Asian role, a role that even- tually became the most demanding and troublesome in America’s long history. (1984, 42, 286–87) The first Philippine Republic led by General Emilio Aguinaldo, born from a suc- cessful war against Spanish feudal theocracy, mounted a determined opposition to the U.S. invading forces. Switching from conventional warfare to guerilla tactics, the resist- ance proved futile. The war continued for two more decades after Aguinaldo’s capture in 1901. Several provinces resisted to the point where the United States had to employ scorched-earth tactics, including torture such as water-boarding, an interrogation tech- nique for Al-Qaeda suspects approved by Vice-President Dick Cheney (Landay 2006).