Continuing US defilement of Philippine
sovereignty spews out of Masbate waters
News Release
Reference: Vince CasilihanJanuary 8, 2013
Insidiousness substantiates the oppressor.
The recovery of a crashed US drone on the waters of
Brgy. Bagahanglad, San Jacinto, Masbate on January 6 affirms the US
imperialists' continuing outright violation of the country's sovereignty. Vince
Casilihan of Karapatan-Bikol deplores the presence of a US drone on Philippine
territory as "an incursion of the US to spy on the rich natural resources of the
country in its rampage of imperialist plunder." According to Casilihan, the
said drone have most certainly surveyed, at the very least, the lands and seas
of Bicol to provide the US valuable data on rich mineral deposits and other
natural assets of the region for prospective pillage.
Likewise, Karapatan maintains that the incident
amplifies the government's blatant disregard of the Constitution. "For one,"
Casilihan adds, "drones such as the one found in Masbate are US military
weaponry and are launched from the US Navy's advanced nuclear-powered warships.
The government clearly violates the Philippine Constitution on provisions in
relation to nuclear weapons, and as regards foreign military troops and
facilities."
No less than PNoy himself confirmed that he has
allowed US drones to fly over Philippine territory to conduct reconnaissance
flights, telling of his servility to US dictates on military interventionism.
To this, Casilihan prompts the public of another ominous role of US drones
slyly flying Philippine airspace. “Clearly, these drones are being used to
assist in the government's counterinsurgency campaign Oplan Bayanihan which has
been ultimately formidable on the part of the civilians," he said. "News
reports abroad abound with the ineffectiveness of drones in identifying
legitimate military targets, and PNoy's government is heedless to the
international clamor against drone-led attacks that have essentially targeted
civilians," Casilihan laments.
Moreover, with US Embassy officials quick on denying
that the US Navy drone is being used for spying, Casilihan retorts. "Whom are
they fooling? Drones are otherwise called unmanned aerial vehicles. They are
remotely controlled and have spying capabilities, and Philippine Navy officials
at best are saying that the recovered drone is largely used in reconnaissance,"
he clarifies.
With these, Karapatan enjoins all patriotic
Bicolanos to condemn the government's shameless acquiescence of Philippine
sovereignty to the US and oppose US intervention that pervades the Philippine's
military affairs. "We have in the past succeeded in holding back RP-US Balikatan
War Exercises in 2009, and have astoundingly protested the recent Operation
Pacific Angel of 2012. Our continuing fight should be for the abrogation of the
VFA and the Mutual Defense Treaty that are nothing but licenses for the US to
ram their guns on the Filipino people while they despoil our country," concludes
Casilihan.
Once again a relatively small band of CPP front group cadre attempt to gain media attention by conducting a colorful, but misguided, anti-U.S. protest action. Karapatan-Bikol is a local chapter of the national umbrella CPP-affiliated human rights front organization Karapatan.
ReplyDeleteSome pretty weak propaganda arguments in the statement. It has been pretty well established that the bright red drone was in fact a target drone, used in gunnery practice and was not a reconnaisance UAV. Karapatan-Bikol's effort to suggest otherwise is blatanly false and deceptive.
The attempt to assert that the accidental appearance of the drone in Philippine waters somehow violates the anti-nuclear provision of the Philippine constitution because the drones "are launched from the US Navy's advanced nuclear-powered warships" is ludicrous.
The argument that the appearance of the drone in Philippine waters some how violates Philippine sovereignty is also laughable. The target drone was apparently lost during an exercise in Guam and simply surfaced in Philppine waters due to strong ocean currents.
This statement is just another example of the lies and distortions that are routinely part of the propaganda efforts of the CPP and its associated front organizations. They will say anything and do anything to discredit those they perceive to be their enemies.