CPP/Ang Bayan: Crimes committed by US troops under the US-RP MBA

Anti-US propaganda article from the English language edition of the CPP online publication Ang Bayan (Dec 21): Crimes committed by US troops under the US-RP MBA

From shootings and beatings to prostitution and dumping toxic waste from their warships, American soldiers in the country were guilty of a long list of crimes and abuses while the US-RP Military Bases Agreement (MBA) was in effect.

Killings and shooting. Thirty killings involving American soldiers were documented before the US military bases were booted out in 1992. Following are but a few of these cases:

Kenneth Smith, a US Marine, killed Rogelio Gonzales, a shoeshine boy in 1968. Gonzales was shot near the gates of Sangley Point in Cavite after being accused of stealing a bicycle.

American soldier Michael Moomey killed Glicer Amor, a base employee, while the latter was drinking from a spring near Subic Bay. Moomey claimed that he mistook Amor for wild boar. The US military absolved Moomey and immediately flew him home to the US.

In 1964, US soldier Larry Cole shot 14-year old Rogelio Balagtas in the back while the latter was gathering bullet shells from a target range at Clark Airfield. US authorities claimed that the boy who had been shot was involved in an attempt to bomb an American school within Clark.

Just two weeks later, US troops James A. Edwards and James B. Thomas shot and killed Gonzalo Villedo while he was fishing with his brother at Subic Bay.

An American soldier also gunned down a Filipino after the latter came near a radio tower at Clark.

Beatings. Two US Marines beat up five workers at Clark in 1970. After asking for their IDs, the marines suddenly kicked and punched them.

Two other American soldiers beat up a man who was cutting grass inside Clark. The soldiers gagged him and kicked his mouth, damaging his teeth. The beating was repeated in the afternoon when the victim was chanced upon by 18 soldiers who took turns in mauling him.

Meanwhile, another civilian living near the base was tied by soldiers to a horse and dragged.

Abduction and attempted rape. A woman was abducted and almost raped by Ronald McDaniel, Cecil Moore, Bernard Williams and Hiawatha R. Lane in 1970. The soldiers belonged to the Gestapo Unit at Clark Airfield, Pampanga led by Col. Averil Holman. In a separate incident, six of Holman’s men beat up Clark civilian employees and sexually harassed two women.

Rampant prostitution. Prostitution worsened at the US bases in the cities of Olongapo and Angeles in the 1980s. Up to 60,000 were prostituted (including 20,000 minors). There were 3,274 cases of violence against women documented involving American soldiers, with 15 of the victims minors. Not a single case prospered in court.
In 1983, eighteen minors were infected with AIDS after being prostituted. In 1990, an 18-month old baby was infected with gonorrhea after she was abused along with her mother by three American soldiers in a Subic apartment.

In 1987, in Subic, 12-year old Rosario Baluyot died of an infection after a vibrator inserted into her vagina by Heinrich Stefan Ritter broke, leaving part of it inside. Ritter was imprisoned for a few years but later freed after being acquitted in court.

A US serviceman named Larry Venaska secretly left the country after a Filipina charged him with rape in 1992.

Destroying lives and the environment. Aside from violating women, US troops likewise polluted the environment. US Marines and US Air Force personnel dumped toxic chemicals like asbestos, mercury, zinc, pesticides, petrochemicals and the like at Subic and Clark.

In 1991, an estimated 20,000 families were affected after they settled in areas abandoned by the soldiers at Clark. Some of them suffered stomach pains, skin ailments, dizziness and spontaneous abortions.

In 2000, up to a hundred people died from poisoning. The most striking case was that of 6-year old Crizel Jane Valencia who died of leukemia due to mercury contamination in the water she drank at CABCOM (Clark Airbase Command).

Instead of providing compensation in accordance with an agreement reached between the US and the Philippines, the US government gave only a small amount to the Philippines, equivalent to $17 million or merely 1% of the budget for “domestic base cleanup.”

[Ang Bayan is the official news organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines and is issued by the CPP Central Committee. It provides news about the work of the Party as well as its analysis of and views on current issues. Ang Bayan comes out fortnightly and is published in Pilipino, Bisaya, Ilokano, Waray, Hiligaynon and English.]

http://www.philippinerevolution.net/publications/ang_bayan/20141221/crimes-committed-by-us-troops-under-the-us-rp-mba