END US WAR PROVOCATIONS - BLINKEN AND AUSTIN OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES

On July 30, 2024 U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with with Marcos-Jr and their counterparts Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr, and Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique A. Manalo where they announced an additional $500 million in US Military aid to the Philippines. GABRIELA USA, along with the International Women's Alliance and its members, denounce the aid package given the Philippines as we know that increased military aid will only put more women in vulnerable and dangerous positions.

This meeting comes on the heels of increasing military agreements between the US and Indo-Pacific countries as the US continues to ramp up its so-called "Pivot to Asia" - the Philippines is clearly a major strategic target in the US's alliance building and military strategy against China. Just this year, the Philippines has held trilateral meetings, signed military agreements, and conducted war exercises with the US and Japan. We have not forgotten that these three countries already share a tangled history of military occupation and intervention - and for the US to claim that they were meeting together on equal footing is deplorable. Both Japan and the US have violently occupied the Philippines and have committed lasting war crimes that impact Filipino women to this day.

Despite decades of advocacy and international outcry, "Comfort Women" remain ignored and neglected by the Japanese Government. Japan recently restated its official position on issuing an apology and reparations to the 18 surviving Filipina "Comfort Women," which has been criticized heavily for being insufficient and not genuine in addressing the survivors' pain. In a statement issued by Lila Pilipina, the organization of "Comfort Women" in the Philippines, they said "This [apology] is a clear misrepresentation of historical facts in order to justify the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) and make it acceptable to the Filipino people. ...The Japanese government has never genuinely apologized to Filipino “Comfort Women” and other wartime rape victims." 

The US is just as guilty of not only utilizing violence against women as a tool of domination, but also hiding their crimes to avoid accountability. Recent delegates on a Peace Mission hosted by BAYAN USA reported that there is an increasing practice of "Akyat Barko" (meaning "climb ship" in tagalog) where women who are forced into prostitution are taken by boat to military ships where foreign sailors then pay for services. Similarly to the "comfort women" program of the Japanese Imperial Army, "Akyat Barko" allows foreign troops to exploit women on their ships without having to be seen in public. We will not forget the calls of justice for Jennifer Laude, "Nicole" and other Filipino women who have been abused by the US government, even as they attempt to disguise their crimes.

Increasing foreign military presence in the Philippines also causes economic instablility. Women and their families are already bearing the brunt of the conditions created by the more than 500 US-led military exercises that happen in the Philippines. According to the Center for Women's Resources: 

"History has shown how such wars affect economies and people’s lives in developing countries that have little to no direct involvement in said conflicts. By agreeing to be a war zone for countries with their own for territorial interests, Pres. Marcos Jr. has consciously allowed the bombing and sinking of lives, security and interests of Filipinos he has sworn to serve. Foreign military exercises in the Philippines have profound and multifaceted impacts on women and children, ranging from displacement, human rights and sexual abuses to environmental damages."

Since Marcos Jr assumed office in 2022 the economic situation in the Philippines has only worsened with sky-rocketing inflation, and outsized costs for essentials such as rice, gasoline, and produce. Combining this with a shinking job market has increased the rate of Filipinos, especially women, migrating overseas as part of the Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) program. However, there is also a strong correlation between economic crises and increased violence against women and children (VAWC) because of lack of state support, access to public services and state neglect exacerbate abuse. A report from 2023 noted that there were an average of 92 victims of VAWC per day between January and August 2023 - this includes rape and other abuses committed by members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP). Violence committed by state forces are often dismissed as isolated cases but ultimately this is an exercise of power and impunity and ignores the greater fact that the economic crisis in the Philippines, coupled with increased foreign military funding and militarization will only worsen the conditions of women across the country.

The fact that such an outsized number of women in the Philippines are already experiencing such an increase in violence, trafficking, and economic instability is a cause for alarm - it is also a key reason why the US should stop giving military aid to the Philippines. In 2022, as part of the US' Women Peace and Security Policy, the Biden Harris Administration passed the "Memorandum on Promoting Accountability for Conflict-Related Sexual Violence" which states that "It is the policy of the United States to fully exercise existing authorities to impose economic sanctions and implement visa restrictions in order to promote justice and accountability for acts of conflict-related sexual violence". If the Biden Harris administration are truly concerned with the rights and welfare of women, why are they approving an addition $500 million in military aid and promising an additional 2.5 billion in military support to the Philippines over the next 5 years? Their inability to stand for women's rights and instead to push US Tax-Payer funds to the Philippines for US military expansion exposes the true nature of the memorandum from 2022. It is clear that US policy on Women, Peace and Security is not about protecting women as it claims - but ensuring the US' military interests are protected above all. We know that increases in US military funding will have devastating impacts on workers and peasants of the Philippines - resulting in increased human trafficing, prostitution, forced migration and violence against women. 

GABRIELA USA and IWA join the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines in Demanding BLINKEN AND AUSTIN OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES - END US WAR PROVOCATIONS. We also call on all our members to decry the constant build-up to warfare that the US is investing public funds in as they drag us into a war that we do not want and that does not benefit us. We demand that the US start funding social services, education, and invest in affordable housing initiatives rather than sinking trillions of dollars into outsized military contracts and military agreements. We demand that the Philippine state prioritize the lives and well-being of Filipino women and their families instead of catering to the US which continually uses the Filipino people as fodder for their feud against China. We unite with women all over the world fighting against US-led war, violence against women, and an end to exploitative systems which simply see women as collateral damange!

US OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES!
US OUT OF EVERYWHERE!