As a citizen from the Republic of the Philippines, it is of keen interest
and concern that we follow up the recent exciting developments in the Korean
peninsula that aspire towards its eventual reunification . In the 1950s, my
country got entangled with the war and division of the Korean peninsula. From
1951-53, the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea(PEFTOK),a combat infantry
battalion of 1,275 men, was dispatched to fight side by side with the United
States , South Korea and their Cold War allies against Democratic People's
Republic of Korea or North Korea. This Philippine contribution of one combat
battalion was just enough to give the Korean action an international image, with
its supplies and allowances to be provided by the United States. My father, who
was then a young junior officer with the Philippine Scout Rangers in the Armed
Forces of the Philippines(AFP) was sent to fight in the battlefields of Korea
as part of the Philippine military contingent until the Korean War abruptly
ended in 1953. He had many stories to tell us about the devastation and
sufferings of the Korean people during that war that divided this peninsula. The
"threat" from the Korean peninsula after the Korean war was also one of the
reasons why U.S. military forces and bases were eventually beefed up and
strengthened in the Philippines, that is , in support of the "Korean theater of
operations" by U.S. military forces.
Last October 25, 2000, the Philippines finally established full diplomatic
relations with North Korea, which is probably our last Cold War "enemy". But, I
cannot but help to mention that the Philippines finally formalized this
long-overdue diplomatic initiative a day after U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright concluded her unprecedented two-day visit to North Korea. This has made
me wonder whether Philippine foreign policy, as in the Cold War days,still
continues to be nothing but a carbon copy of that of the United States!
Even during the Cold War, I cannot imagine how we as a people would have
felt if the Republic of the Philippines was sliced horizontaly and divided into
two hostile countries with different political and economic systems. I cannot
imagine how we would react or feel if, despite blood relatives residing on both
sides, there is no visitation of relatives or friends allowed, and until
recently, no postal and telecommunications link whatsoever. The two parts of
your country were placed in a state of KONFRONTASI and warfooting against each
other, though the country has one history, one culture and tradition, and one
Korean language. It is hard to imagine that the Korean War in which we were
entangled resulted in the division of the two Koreas these past five decades.
Seizing the unique opportunity for the reunification of north and south
Korea is both understandable and a right corresponding to the wishes of the
Korean people. The window of opportunity for reunification of the two Koreas has
become even more an imperative in the light of our common desire to FINALLY
remove the curtains of distrust and confrontation which had led to the
ideological divide, the build-up of military forces on both sides, including
nuclear capabilities. Now,we hope the reunification process will be allowed to
follow its natural course, in a democratic,gradual and peaceful way, free from
the intervention and/or obstruction by foreign powers.
Our countries have long been the playgrounds of foreign armies which have
coerced our foreign and security policies, polluted and destroyed our
farms,territorial seas and environment with their military exercises, and abused
the hospitality of the host countries with the commission of crimes by military
perpetrators who have been extended criminal immunity. International law must
never again allow foreign armies to prevail over internal developments,and the
external environment in today's post Cold War era makes it ripe for dramatic
changes to take place in the Korean peninsula. The international climate today
is very conducive for the reunification process, which is strongly supported by
the world community.
In 1989, I had the privilege of being invited to be a member of the first
Philippine parliamentary delegation(Congressional Committee on Foreign
Relations) to visit North Korea. Our mission was to explore the possibility of
establishing diplomatic relations with your northern compatriots. Our delegation
personally met both the late President Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il
during that visit. Your Korean compatriots in the north repeatedly told us
that, "the Korean people will achieve national liberation, class liberation and
human emancipation by themselves". Our Philippine congressional delegation, upon
its return to the Philippines, then recommended the the immediate establishment
of full diplomatic ties with DPRK. But because the Philippines then was still
tightly wrapped with the Cold War mentality of following the coattails of the
United States, our official ties with North Korea were to be set back for
another decade.
The new thinking, hope, excitement and euphoria that is touching most
Koreans these days is perhaps an emotional feeling that only Koreans in the
north and south, naturally will fully understand. Korea indeed, stands today at
the crossroads of the final break with the cold war system that has for so long
divided the world, an era, now belonging to the "Jurassic" world of the past
because it had been officially declared ended in the early 1990s.
Unfortunately, the United States has not gotten over its "Jurassic" Cold
War mentality. In the Philippines, despite the victory of the Filipino people in
1991 in successfully dismantling U.S. military bases, the United States has
moved to restore its military presence and activities on Philippine soil. In
1998, it re-established the SUBSTANCE of U.S. military presence thru the
U.S.-Philippine Visiting Forces Agreement(VFA). The VFA now provides the legal
instrument for the restoration of U.S. military forces to the Philippines which
is a violation of the 1987 Philippine Constitution. The VFA not only permits
U.S. military exercises and activities but also provides U.S. military and
civilian personnel special privileges and unhampered access to the ENTIRE
Philippine territory including territorial waters. Since January , 2000 when the
first large scale joint military exercises were held under the Visiting Forces
Agreement, up to April of this year(2001), at least 12 military exercises have
been held by U.S. forces on Philippine soil. U.S. military forces deployed in
Japan, South Korea, Okinawa, Guam and Hawaii participate in these so-called
"Balikatan" military exercises. But despite the public relations and
sugar-coated "civilian relations campaigns", and the legal immunity from
criminal prosecution now given to them by the VFA, the U.S. war machine and its
armed forces of global intervention are not immune from the wrath and immunity
of the Filipino people. They are being monitored, watched and resisted by our
people everywhere and anywhere they abuse our women and children, everywhere and
anywhere they poison our harbors or destroy our forests and mountains with their
shell-fire. And, if they persist and play deaf to the Filipino people's outcry
and protests, we may have to bury them on our soil.
The residents of the tiny islands of Puerto Rico's Vieques which the U.S.
armed forces has ravaged for 60 years with its environmentally destructive
bombing and target practice exercises, are showing the world how the united
voice of the people can say NO! to a global superpower in its backyard.
Newspaper and internet accounts recently reported that in a non-binding
referendum, 68% of the Vieques population voted against bombing exercises on
their tiny islands and have asked the U.S. Navy to clean-up its toxic waste and
to leave immediately. Many of our Asian countries are still similarly
experiencing the menace of U.S. militarism.
Ultimately, like the reunification of the former East and West Germany, it
will be the strength and determination of citizen power that will finally break
down the walls of division. Asian peoples in the Philippines, Indonesia for
instance are showing that an awakened peoples, not the military, nor any
charismatic leader, are the decisive force in history. People's movements and
NGOs now form a formidable pillar not only for political mobilization but as an
important autonomous counterweight to the abuse and misuse of governmental
power. More than the political parties or institutions of government, people's
movements and NGOs play a pivotal role as alternative venues for the genuine
empowerment and transformation of the people. We should devote more time in
strengthening these autonomous expressions of grassroots political power.
Non-statist forms allow people to have more room for creativity, initiative and
mobilization.
Last January 2001, we in the Philippines experienced citizens and
citizens' power spilling out to the streets to take direct action and to recall
the power it had given our arrogant and corrupted president Estrada. It was this
same citizens' power that likewise dismantled the 14 year old Marcos
dictatorship in 1986 and forced the withdrawal of U.S. military bases in 1991.
All over Asia and the rest of the world, we are witnessing the remarkable
power gained by a new form of globalized activism as a counter-weight to the
globalized domination of multilateral institutions such as the World Bank-IMF,
World Trade Organization, Asian Development Bank, etc. But not only are these
"globalized citizens" forming a formidable check to corporate globalization, but
also to the the everyday excesses of governments over the people's livelihoods
and politics. It is the strength of this international civil society movement
that we are now mobilizing for the much overdue reunification of the two Koreas,
for their meaningful economic development and and enduring regional peace.
As we embark on the new millenium, we are confident that the two Korean
states and peoples will finally reunify, with the perspective that the
resolution of the current division is an internal affair for the Korean people.
A divided Korea is a symbol of Asia's and your peoples dashed hopes and dreams
for a peaceful and demilitarized Asia. We hope that Korea's reunification will
propel the realization of this nation's true aspirations and hopes. It is my
hope that the next time I do get to visit Seoul or, Pyongyang in the north, what
I will be visiting will just be a southern or northern city of one united Korea,
distinguished as a geographical location, not a political or economic entity
separated from the rest.
If a nation consists of a people, there is only one Korea.
|
