Condemning the US, Nato & Puppet Forces for Barbaric Attacks on the Libyan People

By Prof. Jose Maria Sison
Chairperson, International League of Peoples' Struggle
26 August 2011

WE, the International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), condemn in the strongest terms the US, NATO and their puppet forces for their barbaric military campaign against the people in the whole of Libya since several months ago and in Tripoli currently. The combination of escalated NATO air bombardments and ground movement of Libyan puppet forces and NATO special forces against Tripoli since 20 August aims to deliver the final blow on the Gaddafi regime.

The invasion of Tripoli is the culmination of the bloody bombing campaign against the people of Libya by the air and naval forces of the US, UK, France, Italy and other NATO powers since March in collusion with Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and the most reactionary and treasonous elements of Libyan society, including high bureaucrats recruited by the CIA from the Gaddafi regime, monarchists, warlords and Islamic fundamentalists associated with the CIA and al Qaeda.

The brutal campaign against Libya and the Gaddafi regime has been unleashed by the US and NATO under the pretext of saving civilian lives under Resolution 1973 of the UN Security Council. In fact, this so-called humanitarian intervention has been characterized by wanton bombings of homes, churches and civilian infrastructure, including power and water utilities, hospitals, children creches and schools, resulting in the killing and maiming of thousands of Libyans.

Accompanied by covert agents and special forces of the US and NATO, the anti-Gaddafi Libyan mercenaries have been able to advance from one point to another only after being preceded by NATO bombardments on the military positions of the regime as well on civilian communities regarded as pro-Gaddafi. Subsequently, the anti-Gaddafi mercenaries mostly play-act as fighters before the TV camera, attack helpless civilians off the camera and serve as bait to lure out the pro-Gaddafi forces for attack by helicopter gunships and predatory drones.

The cowardly military campaign of bombardments, involving more than 20,000 sorties by the air forces of the US and NATO and already costing more than 1 billion USD are intended not only to ruin and subjugate Libya but also to test he accuracy and killing efficiency of the weapons systems. The murderous campaign has been complemented by an internationally-coordinated psywar campaign by the biggest media conglomerates to justify foreign military intervention and aggression against the national sovereignty of Libya and the Libyan people and to misrepresent the puppets as democratic forces .

By their brazen acts, the US, UK, France and Italy have exposed their scheme of turning Libya into a neocolony deprived of sovereignty, putting the country's oil and other natural resources under their absolute control through puppets and punishing Gaddafi for his refusal to allow the US African Command to build its military base in Libya, and for declaring that he wants to retract and re-nationalize what he has conceded to the imperialists since 2003 and to replace the US dollar with the gold dinar as the medium of buying oil from Libya in the face of the sharp worsening of the crisis of global capitalism.

When the US unleashed its war of aggression on Iraq in 2003, the Gaddafi regime worried as never before that the US could unleash a similar war against Libya. Thus, it decided to have rapprochement with the US, Britain and the other NATO powers. This enabled the imperialist powers to impose fully the policy of neoliberal globalization on Libya, which resulted in extreme privileges for the multinational corporations, wanton corruption among regime's officials as well as Gaddafi relatives and in significant rises in the prices of basic commodities, in erosion of social benefits and in the mismatch of qualifications and jobs among the youth even as Libya continued to have the highest standard of living in Africa.

The Gaddafi regime also went into military and intelligence cooperation with the US and the other NATO powers, especially with regard to military supplies and the so-called US global policy of war on terror. Through expanded economic and military relations with Libya, the imperialists and particularly their intelligence operatives were able to gain influence among the officials of the Gaddafi regime, to recruit some of them and turn them against Gaddafi and his relatives. Thus, we now see former high officials of the Gaddafi regime in leading positions in the National Transitional Council.

The strategy of the US and NATO to overthrow the Gaddafi regime involves the use of bombardments on military positions and formations, on communities deemed as hostile and on the social infrastructure; the freezing of financial assets abroad; and the blockade on essential supplies, especially food and medicine. These brutal measures are calculated to allow the puppet opposition on the ground to rouse the people against the regime.

The imperialist powers have boasted that they shall have finished off Gaddafi by the 27th of June. But they have failed and have reset their deadline to end of September, although they now claim to be well ahead of schedule. They have also boasted that they do not have to put their boots on the Libyan sand. In fact, they are planning to deploy their troops in Libya under the cover of UN peacekeeping. Their covert agents, advisors and special forces are already in Libya to guide the puppets.

The people of Libya have suffered from the steady erosion of their national economic rights and standard of living under the neoliberal policy of imperialist globalization since the last decade. The imperialist powers aim to tighten their squeeze on the people of Libya and grab the huge oil resources and all major related businesses. They have wreaked havoc on the lives and properties of the Libyan peoples and are planning to make them pay for the costs of the war of aggression, The Libyan masses stand to lose their access to free education, free health care and other ample socio-economic benefits

Under the imperialist powers, the Libyan constitution will be replaced with one that institutes a puppet republic serving the economic, political, military and cultural interests of the imperialists. Libya will be made to accept the establishment of the military base of the US African Command and thus become another military outpost of US imperialism like Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.

To dominate Libya, the US and NATO will certainly continue to promote puppetry and treason and to manipulate the differences among the various puppet political forces, the tribes, the secularists and Islamic fundamentalists in order to divide and rule the Libyan people as in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The ILPS wishes the Libyan people and their anti-imperialist and democratic forces to take advantage of the current social and political turmoil in their country in order to gain strength and override the current conflict of the pro-Gaddafi and anti-Gaddafi forces. The turbulent conditions and the widespread distribution of arms in Libya today are favorable for establishing a revolutionary party of the working class as well as for developing a national liberation movement.

The Libyan people should not be limited to choosing between the Gaddafi regime and a new regime of puppets extremely servile to the US and NATO. At any rate, a new regime of traitors conflicting with each other and having their respective armed groups is bound to be unstable. Whether Gaddafi becomes a martyr or remains alive to exercise leadership over his followers, the Gaddafi camp can redeem itself through continued anti-imperialist struggle and remain a major force for fighting the imperialists and traitors and for contributing significantly to the rise and growth of a national liberation movement.

We are confident that the Libyan people will continue to draw courage and strength from their long and proud tradition of fighting colonialism and imperialism and to advance on the road of national independence, democracy, social justice and development. They should not allow the Arab spring to be merely a way of empowering a new set of rulers that is more servile to US imperialism than a previous one.

We stand firmly in solidarity with all the people of Libya in fighting for national independence and democracy. We call on ILPS member organizations and all friendly forces to promptly mount protest actions at the embassies of the US and other NATO powers involved in the current assault on Tripoli and in the entire barbaric campaign against Libya and the people of Libya.

Uphold and defend the national sovereignty and democratic rights of the people of Libya!

Down with US and the other imperialist powers in NATO! Get out of Libya!

Long live the people of Libya! Onward with the struggle for national liberation and democracy!


(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Joma Sison)

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Sison, Jose Maria. ILPS CONDEMNS THE US, NATO AND PUPPET FORCES FOR THEIR BARBARIC ATTACKS ON THE PEOPLE IN LIBYA. 26 August 2011. http://www.josemariasison.org/?p=8582#more-8582


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Walking History: HUWAG nang IPAGDIWANG ang BUWAN ng WIKA

ni MICHAEL XIAO CHUA


DAHIL kaarawan ngayon ng Pangulong Manuel Quezon na nag-adhika na magkaroon ng isang Pambansang Wika na batay pangunahin na sa Tagalog ngunit kabilang dapat ang mga salita mula sa ibang mga wika sa Pilipinas, kaibigan, tara, usap tayo... sa Filipino.


Madalas ako makakita ng mga karatula sa mga paaralan ngayon na ipinagmamalaki na “This is an English-Speaking Zone.”  Diumano upang tayo ay maging “globally-competitive,” ipinatupad ng nakaraang administrasyon ang polisiya na halos lahat ng asignatura ay dapat itinuturo sa Ingles.  Dito, kapag ikaw ay nagsasalita sa Ingles, kahit wala namang laman ang sinasabi mo, ang tingin sa iyo ay matalino.  Sa isang mamahaling kolehiyo aming nakita minsan ni Dr. Zeus Salazar, “English is the language of leaders.”  Sabi niya, “Bakit?  Si Napoleon ba iningles ang mga Pranses?  Si Mao ba iningles ang mga Tsino?”

Kahit marami ngayon ang “wrong grammar” sa paggamit ng Ingles, ipinagmamalaki natin na mas marami pa ring nagsasalita ng Ingles dito sa Pilipinas kaysa sa Inglatera.  Kung totoo ito, bakit tila hindi tayo mga pinuno sa daigdig?  Bakit tayo naghihirap?  Bakit walang sapat na marangal na trabaho sa bansa na kinakailangan na matuto tayo ng Ingles upang magsilbi sa pangangailangan ng mga dayuhan sa mga kasambahay, nars at caregiver at tagasagot ng telepono?  Bakit ang Hapon, Tsina, Europa ay mayaman kahit na maging ang mga CEO ng kanilang mga kumpanya ay bobo sa Ingles?  Sapagkat ang biyaya ng edukasyon, ekonomiya at pulitika dito sa Pilipinas ay nananatili lamang sa mga marunong mag-Ingles.  Ang may kontrol sa wika ay may bahagi sa kapangyarihan.  Maraming dahilan kung bakit tayo mahirap, ngunit hindi ba’t kabilang dito ang katotohanang hindi talaga makasawsaw ang mas nakararami sa mga isyu ng pagkabansa?  It’s the language, stupid.


Samahan niyo ako at hirayain natin (let’s imagine):  Sa kabila ng iba’t ibang wika na nakapaloob sa Kapilipinuhan, tayo ay nagkakaintindihan sa isang wika na mula sa ating kapuluan.  Ayon kay Dr. Salazar, “Gumagamit ng mga konsepto at ugali na alam natin lahat ang kahulugan, ...pati ang relasyon ng mga kahulugang ito sa isa’t isa.  Ito ay nangyayari lamang kung iisa ang ‘code’—ibig sabihin, may isang pangkabuuang pag-uugnay at pagkakaugnay ng mga kahulugan, kaisipan at ugali.  Mahalaga (at pundamental pa nga) rito ang iisang wika.”  Imbes na sa Ingles lamang nakalimbag ang Harry Potter o Twilight saga, ito ay isinasalin sa wikang mababasa na rin ng mas nakararaming Pilipino; na naglilimbag na tayo ng mga aklat ukol sa pilosopiya, quantum physics o quantum mechanics sa ating sariling wika; Na sa sistemang legal sa Pilipinas hindi na naagrabyado sa kaso ang mga mahihirap dahil wala silang maintindihan; Na naisasama na ang mahihirap sa biyaya ng ating ekonomiya dahil naiintindihan na nila ito; Na unti-unting nabubuo ang ating bansa dahil “nag-uusap tayo,” tulad ng sinasabi ni Boy Abunda, ukol sa ating sariling kasaysayan at karanasan, natutuklasan natin ang ating sariling lakas, at sa pagkakaintindihan nabubuo ang respeto sa isa’t isa, na nagbubunsod ng pagkakaisa sa kabila ng pagkakaiba-iba.  Hindi ba napaganda ng bansa natin kung ganoon?

Ito ang layunin ng Pantayong Pananaw at Bagong Kasaysayan, iskwelang pangkaisipan na sinimulan ni Dr. Salazar at patuloy na pinapanday ng mas nakababatang mga historyador (Para sa buong paliwanang, puntahan ang http://bagongkasaysayan.org), na sa pagbabalik-tanaw natin sa kasaysayan na “may saysay” sa atin, sa ating sariling wika, para sa bayan, mas maiintindihan natin ang ating sarili.  Maliit kasi ang tingin natin sa ating sarili dahil sa mga “historia” na isinulat ng mga dayuhan sa kanilang perspektiba at nagturo sa atin na umasa lamang sa kanila.  Bagama’t marami ang nagsusulat ukol sa ating kultura at kasaysayan, marami ang hindi nito naaabot dahil sa Ingles lamang nasusulat ang mga ito.

Hindi tayo maaaring maging “globally competitive” kung hindi tayo nagkakaintindihan bilang bansa at hindi matibay ang ating kultura.  Sapagkat ang nais ng globalisasyon ay magkaroon ng isang kultura ang daigdig upang mabenta ang mga produkto ng mga dominanteng bansa.  Magigising tayo minsan na wala na tayong pagkakakilanlan, na patay na ang ating pagkabansa tulad ng sinabi ni Simoun kay Basilio sa mga nobela ni Rizal.  Imbes na mapakinabangan natin ang globalisasyon, magagamit lamang tayo nito.

May mga nag-adhika noon na Ingles na ang maging pambansang wika tulad nina Isidoro Panlasigui.  Tinuruan na daw kasi ang Pilipino na magbasa ng Ingles, at may grupo na ayaw tanggapin ang Tagalog/Filipino bilang wikang pambansa.  Ngunit, ibang usapan kasi kung naiintindihan talaga ang kayang basahin.  Marami na sa kapuluan ang nakakaintindi ng Filipino dahil sa media.  Ang wika kasi ay kultura.  Ibig sabihin, hindi mairerepresenta ng isang dayuhang wika ang yaman ng ating kultura at damdamin tulad ng isang wika mula sa Pilipinas.  Ang “rice” sa Ingles ay palay, bigas, kanin, bahaw, tutong, sinangag, lugaw at iba pa sa Filipino.

Kapuri-puri ang halimbawa ng Pangulong Noynoy Aquino na kausapin ang bayan sa wika nito.  Nasa diwa siya ng kanyang ina na kahit elitista at Inglesera ay inutos sa kanyang Executive Order 335 na gamitin ang Filipino sa mga gawain ng estado.  Ayon kay Adrian Cristobal noong 1988, “This...is what President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino can legitimately parade as her achievement...:  That she has inducted the government and therefore the political realm into the same universe inhabited by the many.....  It is her one true act of statesmanship, an act that bolder presidents couldn’t dare because of the loud objections of regional leaders....  This presidential act will do more for our nationhood than any gesture at leadership.”  1 Agosto kapwa namatay ang Pang Quezon (1944) at Pang. Cory (2009).  Sana alalahanin din ang huli na tagapagtaguyod ng Wikang Pambansa sa buwan na ito at tunay na ipatupad ang kanyang magandang sinimulan.

Totoo, mahalaga pa rin sa akin ang matuto, magsulat at magsalita ng Ingles, at maganda pa nga matuto pa tayo ng Espanyol, Tsino, Aleman, Italiano, at iba pa.  Ngunit mali na itaguyod ang dayuhang wika habang isinasakripisyo nating ang pag-usbong ng Filipino at mga wika sa Pilipinas hindi lamang sa akademya kundi sa pamahalaan at ekonomiya.  Ito ay isang krimen sa ating kultura.  Kung patuloy na ipapatupad ang “English Only Policy” sa mga paaralan, nag-aaksaya lang tayo ng panahon, huwag na nating ipagdiwang ang Buwan ng Wika.

Sa mga nagtataguyod ng Filipino at ng mga wika sa Pilipinas, huwag mag-alala.  May kakampi tayo kay Emilio Jacinto, “tunay na [mahalaga ang] tao kahit laking-gubat at walang nababatid kundi ang sariling wika.”


******

Sa Setyembre 15-16, magkakaroon ng taunang kumperensya ang Philippine Historical Association bilang pagdiriwang ng Linggo ng Kasaysayan  ukol sa papel ng kasayhttps://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-charleston-briones-chua/walking-history-column-by-xiao-chua-huwag-nang-ipagdiwang-ang-buwan-ng-wika-good/10150286995768622sayan sa pagtuturo ng ibang disiplina sa mga agham panlipunan na gaganapin sa gusali ng Pambansang Komisyong Pangkasaysayan ng Pilipinas sa Daang Kalaw, Lungsod ng Maynila.  Para sa impormasyon, tumungo sa aming bahay-dagitab, http://www.pha1955.blogspot.com.

_____________


(Reprinted with permission from Prof. Michael Charlestone B. Chua)


Pinagkunan:

Chua, Michael Charlestone B. Walking History: Huwag Nang Ipagdiwang ang Buwan ng Wika, Good Morning Philippines, 19 August 2011. Good Morning Philippines Times Chronicle. 19 Aug. 2011. http://goodmorningphilippines.ph/index.html

Photo credits:

http://lilianmaeg.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/buwan.jpg?w=400&h=563

http://media.economist.com/images/20090606/D2309AS1.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrKFtRCs8hzF3jBA79ReejNPl0P09Bm3Dfgz6JG_XBbj7Eglb-i-vNI7ICf21ft312hJMYSp-Xe0vFd_ypWsZ22NqfWlq0QbzhtACTEAQeczF99XtlmhRmV6jWL0XFTQjB2rRQrUrUd5/s1600/Buwan+ng+Wikang+Pambansa.png

http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd323/jpsquilla81/Kindergarten%20Zyke/IMG_1095.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjWrKFtRCs8hzF3jBA79ReejNPl0P09Bm3Dfgz6JG_XBbj7Eglb-i-vNI7ICf21ft312hJMYSp-Xe0vFd_ypWsZ22NqfWlq0QbzhtACTEAQeczF99XtlmhRmV6jWL0XFTQjB2rRQrUrUd5/s1600/Buwan+ng+Wikang+Pambansa.png



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Walking History: WE WON the REVOLUTION

ni Prop. MICHAEL XIAO CHUA

Grito de Balintawak (Diorama at the Ayala Museum)

WHEN Ms. Rita Gadi asked me when and where the Philippine Revolution started in 1896, I was stupefied at first.  How do you quickly explain that many witnesses produced many answers:  Kangkong (23 August), Pugad Lawin (23 August), Bahay Toro (24 August), Sitio Gulod, Barrio Banlat (near Pasong Tamo now Tandang Sora Ave., 24 August), Balintawak (26 August).  Historians Milagros Guerrero, Emmanuel Encarnacion and Ramon Villegas wrote in an article in 1996 that the now “official” August 23 Cry of Pugadlawin is erroneous (there was no such place name in 1896 maps of the area), and that it was possible that there were many cries as they were organizing people in different places.  In a 1989 column anyway, Dr. Ambeth Ocampo cleared that all those other place names cited were in the area called “Balintawak.”  So maybe it’s safer to call it Cry of Balintawak.

Pinaglabanan Shrine by Eduardo Castrillo, San Juan
(old National Histrorical Institute postcard

The possibility of many cries can be supported by two historians, Dante Ambrosio and Enrico Azicate who in 1995 tried to walk through the places cited in accounts and sure enough, a path can be established that can lead to that important battle in San Juan by early morning of 30 August known as “Pinaglabanan.”

Dr. Guerrero, et al suggested that instead of celebrating the uncertain 23 August cry, it’s better to commemorate the well documented establishment of the Revolutionary Government by the Kataastaasang Sanggunian of the Katipunan on 24 August at the house of Tandang Sora in Banlat.  This is where Andres Bonifacio was elected as the first president of the first national government in the Philippines.  This is when our bansa was born.  With this, I agree with my mentor Dr. Guerrero.

A bigger problem than the contradicting facts of the first cry are misconceptions about the revolution itself.  We Filipinos,
regrettably, easily forget about the past.  And worst, many times we commemorate and emphasize our defeats.  By reading history written for us by foreigners, we look at ourselves in the point of view of the other.   Thus our colonial mentality and inferiority complex which had a long term effect on us—we feel that all good things about us came from foreigners (remember learning about pamana ng mga Espanyol and pamana ng mga Amerikano?), and that “ginhawa” can only be attained if we go out of this country.  One thing we tell ourselves is that we lost the Philippine Revolution, and it was the Americans who helped us defeat the Spaniards with the victory of the “Hero of Manila” Admiral George Dewey at the Battle of Manila Bay.

Filipino Struggle for Freedom (detail), mural by Carlos "Botong" Francisco, Bulwaganf Katipunan, Manila City Hall

One major thing that I cherished learning from Dr. Jaime Veneracion in one of my graduate courses in UP Diliman is that he emphasized that we won the revolution against Spain and that we must credit ourselves for it as a people.

When Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo, tactically agreed to go abroad after his government made peace with the Spaniards, he negotiated with key American diplomats who verbally promised that they will help the Filipinos ensure their independence.  One researcher from the National Historical Commission showed me a book by an American historian which stated that there was no evidence that the promise was ever given.  This will show us how we must be conscious of perspective when reading history.  Facts are not just facts.

Battle of Manila Bay, 1 May 1898

On 1 May 1898, the seven-vessel Asiatic Fleet came to Manila Bay under Dewey and in the battle sunk all obsolete twenty Spanish ships.  As Dr. Ambeth said, it was a “mismatch.”  There was only one American casualty, and he didn’t die of battle wounds but of heat stroke!  But Dewey did not have ground forces and so at this point they actually haven’t occupied the Philippines.

As the Americans were returning Aguinaldo back from Hongkong aboard McCulloch, many revolutionaries around the archipelago organized themselves again.  Little by little, the Anak ng Bayan returned and took-over different towns from the Spaniards.  After one of these battles, the Battle of Alapan, the Philippine flag made by Marcela Agoncillo, daughter Lorenza and Delfina Herbosa-Rizal, was unfurled at Teatro Caviteño in Cavite Viejo (Kawit) on 28 May.  Thus we celebrate this as the start of the flag days.

Proclamation of Philippine Independence, 12 June 1898 (artist rendition)

Hearing about the continuous victories of the Filipinos in defeating the Spaniards who were our colonizers for 333 years, Gen. Aguinaldo acted quickly and at 4:02 PM on 12 June proclaimed Philippine Independence at the central window of his mansion in Kawit, in the tune of Julian Felipe’s Marcha Filipina Magdalo / Marcha Nacional Filipina.  With this self-proclamation of V-S Day (Victory Over Spain), I believe that 12 June of every year is worth celebrating by every Filipino.

Xiao, on the Independence Balcony, Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, 200

 One of the 97 signers of the Acta was a certain Col. M.L. Johnson, assumed by many as the representative of Dewey who couldn’t come because it was his “mail day.”  Historian J.R.M. Taylor clarified that he was not an official representative but a cinematograph operator.  This shows that the Americans don’t have any intention to honor their word.  American ground troops came and by 13 August, won against the Spaniards.  Atop Baluarte de San Francisco Javier in Intramuros, the Stars and Stripes was raised for the first time.  But it was a pre-negotiated battle, so the Spaniards can be defeated with honor, thus the monicker “Mock Battle of Manila.”  Filipino troops marched to claim the old capital but they were stopped by the Americans.  Sensing finally that the Americans were not to be trusted, he went to Bulacan, organized the Malolos Congress on 15 September, which gave birth to the First Constitutional Republic in Asia by 23 January 1899.

Xiao, infront of the Independence Balcony
Aguinaldo Shrine, Kawit, Cavite, 1

Although this victory was short lived as we fought once again in our war against the Americans, it reminds us that united, we can defeat any long-term problem battling us.  With this I say, wake up and be inspired to greet every new morning as we proclaim our greatness.  Good Morning Philippines!

Let me dedicate this column to my professor, Dante Ambrosio, who fought for our bayan and wrote about our constellations, thank you and goodbye.  You are now part of the stars.

The late UP Prof. Dante Ambrosio
(Photo by Xiao Chua)

 (Reprinted with permission from Prof. Michael Xiao Chua)


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Chua, Michael Xiao. We Won the Revolution. https://www.facebook.com/notes/michael-charleston-briones-chua/walking-history-column-by-xiao-chua-huwag-nang-ipagdiwang-ang-buwan-ng-wika-good/10150286995768622


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