The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan felt the answers given by United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to pressing issues like the Visiting Forces Agreement and human rights were at most “sweeping and vague and failed to address the growing concerns of unequal relations between the Philippines and the US.”
Clinton attended a forum at the University of Santo Tomas, where she was asked questions by students from different universities across the country.
“Many answers were couched in vague diplomatic language. Some responses were already expected, such as her reaffirmation of the need for the VFA. The answers failed to address the growing concerns over the unequal relations with the US, as far as the military agreement is concerned,” said Bayan secretary general Renato M. Reyes, Jr.
“When the Clinton euphoria is over, we will be back to the same situation of having the Philippines treated as a lowly neo-colony by the US government. Things will stay the same with the VFA, the US troops in Mindanao, the free-trade policies and the US support for the tyrant in Malacanang,” he added.
Bayan said the response to a YouTube question on human rights violations in the Philippines was also inadequate.
“She seemed to recognize there were human rights issues in the Philippines but stopped short of giving an honest appraisal of the situation. She also did not explain why the Philippines will be given additional US military aid despite the rampant rights abuses. There also was no mention made of American citizen Melissa Roxas who filed a complaint before the US State Department over her abduction and torture,” Reyes said.
Clinton said that there are steps being taken in by the Philippine government in addressing the human rights issues, while also saying that the US itself is not perfect when it comes to human rights.
“At least there was an admission on her part of the US own shortcomings in human rights. The US is indeed not perfect. Far from it, the US has caused many human rights abuses especially in areas where there are armed conflicts like in Iraq and Afghanistan,” the Bayan leader said.
The militant group also decried the overkill police security employed during the Clinton visit. “Both the US and Arroyo governments sing praises to democracy, yet they want to quell or silence views critical of their policies. The student protesters were raising legitimate issues on sovereignty and human rights but they were surrounded and blocked by truckloads of policemen and huge fire trucks and buses. So much for democracy,” Reyes said. ###
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from: www.bayan.ph
