Fabricating the Friendship
From the beginning, our so-called “friendship” with the Americans has been built on deception. Their consistent deceit has undermined national sovereignty, fostered false hopes, and endangered the lives of countless Filipinos.
A glaring example is the Battle of Manila. A false narrative of alleged Philippine Independence which the Americans exploited to try and convince Filipinos that they rescued us from Spain. Yet, we had more than enough military might to defeat the Spanish Forces.
Behind our backs, the United States and Spain staged the “Mock Battle of Manila” – a scripted battle to justify Spanish surrender. They also agreed not to let Filipinos into the city as a way to maintain their image and their control over the colony. Months later, the United States would buy us from Spain in the Treaty of Paris – a treaty that was ratified without our participation. The colonizers hijacked our revolution, convinced us that they just wanted to help — a rather overused encroaching tactic by the US, and bought us as if we were an addition to their collection.
If we define a ‘friendship’ based on the Americans’ handbook, it would entail a parasitic, toxic, and exploitative relationship.
This is not an isolated case. In World War II, they left Filipino soldiers – and even their own troops – to die as the Japanese forces seized the Philippines. Knowing that the soldiers would have to go for years without aid, they claimed that a huge wave of American support was coming while their top officials fled, with yet another false promise to “rescue” us from foreign invaders.
Two years later, they came back to “liberate” the Philippines. But history attests it was not American power that proved to be decisive. It was rather around 260,000 guerilla fighters in various parts of the country that pushed back against the Japanese, driving us to our own emancipation.
However, once again, American propaganda treated us like damsels in distress to be saved by white knights in shining armor, all to convince us that we needed their help.
This deceit describes the rest of our history with them as well – unequal trade deals, secretive base treaties, and an endless stream of propaganda brainwashing us to think that they are god-given gifts. They weaved these lies because they had – and still have – so much to gain by keeping us under their thumbs.
“Friends” with Benefits
The imperialist US, as the Philippine government’s best FWB, has perfected propaganda as an artform because their exploitation relied on it. While claiming to be saviors from the modern world, they were benefiting more from us than we ever did from them.
We were an essential part of the expansion of their economy. They needed foreign markets to exploit, so from the very start of our “independence,” they made sure that the Philippine Market was easily accessible through unfair trade agreements like the Bell Trade Act and the Laurel-Langley Agreement. After Marcos Sr., the Presidents continued this openness to foreign economic exploitation, including measures to open up foreign ownership completely in key areas as well as a constant drive to lessen trade restrictions and make it easier for American businessmen to dominate our economy.
They have also turned us into a glorified military outpost. The United States has spent billions of dollars on equipment and training for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, equipping them with mercenary-like tactics and peddling propaganda against democratic forces they would tag as “subversives.” And, this is not out of the goodness of their hearts, but because we are a crucial part of their military strategy. We were used as a battleground against Japan and an outpost against Vietnam. Now, they continue to use us as a front to secure their control of Southeast Asia against China.
They sent billions of dollars in both economic and military “aid” to make sure that their lapdogs of choice would keep the country in check. Whether in installing Roxas right after “independence,” having the CIA help Magsaysay to stop communism, or backing the first Marcos regime, the United States has always tried – and succeeded – to install a puppet in Malacañang, never loosening threads of utter subservience for their sole benefit.
During the Marcos years, for example, the so-called “land of the free” supported the worst crimes against the Filipino people for the sake of maintaining its empire. Until his death, the Americans kept Marcos safe from the rage of the masses – all for the sake of keeping the country under their thumb.
Time and again, we have been pawns in Washington’s effort to remain the “leader of the free world.” Whether it is economically, militarily, or politically, they have exploited us in their bid for power. We are “friends” with benefits, but all of these benefits are for them. All we get in return is abuse.
The Price of Fabricated Friendship
Our “friendship” is an attempt to whitewash more than a century of abuse.
They call us “little brown brothers” to make us forget about how they abused us through the years. How they called us racial slurs, hunted us like animals, and subjected us to the worst forms of torture during the Philippine-American War. How their military men raped and abused countless women around their bases, leaving thousands of children behind. How time and again they have brought us along in their wars, putting Filipino lives on the line for the sake of American interests.
They call us vital partners to hide the fact that their aid barely scratches the surface of the damage they have caused. How their businessmen have displaced locals and made sure that foreign monopolies controlled our markets. How they have buried us in mountains of debt and have used these loans to push for more deregulation in our economy. Their manipulation is one of the primary causes of the state of our economy today: an economy without national industries, largely dependent on foreign investment, and steeped in poverty.
They call us friends to distract us from realizing that there is entirely nothing friendly about the imperialist US. Their leadership of the free world is built on exploiting countries like ours.
Now, our imperialist masters are calling again – this time to team up with the dictator’s son Bongbong. They will be the best of friends, working together to maximize their profits at the expense of the Filipino people, all while muzzling the democratic and patriotic forces and sowing division among the masses. Once again, their propaganda machines will try to convince us that their alliance is for the best – a smokescreen as they continue to place imperialist interests first.
No matter what they say, we know that there is no friendship between the oppressed masses and the imperialist masters in Washington DC – only deception, exploitation, and abuse. We will no longer be fooled by their fabrications of friendship. For so long, they have teamed up with power-hungry puppets like the Marcoses to keep their control over the country. Now, these American Imperialists – and the traitors who have made their reign possible – must pay for their crimes against the Filipino people. Reject and resist the imperialist masters, and the puppet Marcos-Duterte regime!
#ImperyalismoIbagsak
#MarcosItakwil
Featured image courtesy of Kabataan Partylist UP Manila
