Tuesday, January 17, 2006
Anti-Balikatan caravan off to North Cotabato
ABOUT 5,000 militants from several provinces in the Southern and Northern Mindanao regions have joined the caravan towards North Cotabato to protest the coming Balikatan exercise that will start Tuesday.
The participants of the inter-regional People's Caravan, which came from Davao City, North Cotabato, Socsksargen, Composeta Valley Province and Davao Oriental, left Davao City Monday.
Bayan Muna patry-list Representative Joel Virador expressed support to the overwhelming campaign against the scheduled month-long RP-US Balikatan Exercises in Carmen, North Cotabato.
Virador said the Balikatan is being used as backdoor entry route of US troops in the country.
"The US is taking advantage of the Balikatan exercise to advance its economic and political interest in the Asia-Pacific region. Not to mention, the US is using the country, particularly Mindanao, as a spring board of military power because of its strategic location," Virador said.
He also cited that US economic planning agencies have identified key investment areas in the far south, including the natural gas reserves of the Moro-dominated Liguasan Marsh, the vast gold deposits in various mountain ranges, and the potentialities of deuterium, the "fuel of the future" found in the Philippine Trench off the coast of Surigao.
"The seemingly regular presence of US troops in the country and the leniency of the Philippine government towards the abuses and exploits of US servicemen is an insult to a supposedly sovereign country like ours. It is high-time we assert our independence from foreign domination and control and this can only be realized through the abrogation of the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty and Visiting Forces Agreement," Virador said.
He added, "We better act now towards the seemingly 'permanent visit' of the US in the country. We should not allow foreign control to totally exploit the vast and rich resources of Mindanao. We all know that VFA and other iniquitous bilateral agreements are aimed at amplifying US control in the country. It is to time cut the bogus friendly-ties with the US and call it quits." (BOT)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (January 17, 2006 issue)
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