While the attention of the American public has lately been focused on the Philippine Islands, those islands have long had theirs focused on these United States. Professor Roland G. Simbulan spoke earlier this week on Philippine history and Philippine present concerns.

"When the first American visiting forces set their army boots on Philippine soil, little did they realize that they were merely delaying an inevitable process. This was the forging and tempering of a people toward nationhood that had unified our islands after more than 350 years of centralized Spanish control." We realize that the invasion and occupation of the Philippines by the United States at the turn of the century only further factored in nationalism as a formidable force to reckon with in the tumultuous but often elitist, opportunistic and capitulationist politics of the Philippines.

He points out that in the early part of this century, nationalism, though a valid political force, was also used by these elites to further their own agenda. A class of political "kleptocrats" or "bureaucrat-capitalists" was created who have dominated Philippine politics to this day.

Their power has not gone unchallenged, however. Trade unions and peasant movements have challenged the monopoly and the dominance of the Filipino elite. Attempts have been met with an equal backlash. Despite liquidation of several popular movements, the Colorun, Sakdal, and Tangullan among them, and a counter-insurgency campaign mounted with the help of the CIA, the people's war survived.

In Mr. Simbulan's words, "the First Quarter Storm in the early 70's that saw the unleashing of mass political power never experienced in Philippine history. Schools, universities, parishes and barrios was well as streets all over the archipelago became political schools for social change. This was the true origin of the parliament of the streets. U.S. economic, military and political domination – succinctly referred to as "imperialism" – became the principal target. Local elite structures were also questioned, especially the landlord-dominated agricultural sector. Philippine mass politics also led to the eventual dismantling of the Marcos dictatorship and the launching of Philippine nationalism's historic offensive -- the removal of U.S. bases after 93 years U.S. military presence in the Philippines."

To this day the spirit of this revolution persists in the form of the 65,000 NGOs that perform the functions of an alternative government in the Philippine archipelago.

One aspect of Philippine politics is a tell-tale sign of their long association with the U.S. and that is the recent growth of the entertainment as politics and politics as entertainment industry.

Revulsion against the "trapos" or traditional politicians has turned the public towards the showbiz types who have infiltrated Philippine political life as they have American. President Estrada, though from an upper-middle class, political family, went into the movies and entered political life from that increasingly popular launching pad. Decrying Philippine politics that has become a national past-time, Mr. Simbulan points out the irrelevance of this amusement industry to the 70% of Filipinos who are too poor to meet their basic needs.

The extreme poverty of the island has had the curious side effect of making the Filipino a Citizen of the world. Since the 1970's the export of Filipino labor has been a national policy. The Overseas Workers Welfare Authority(OWWA) estimates that in the years from 1982-1990 3.46 million contract Filipino workers left the country.

Billing himself as a man of the people, President Estrada, came into power in 1988 with almost 80% of the vote of the lower income classes. Today his ratings are way down and there is even talk of a coup. The disappointment is particularly felt in the NGO sector due to several reasons.

The first if which is the economic condition of the country. Estrada has been pushing the neo-liberal approach to economics. The constitution states that, "The state shall pursue policies where the economy is effectively controlled by Filipinos." Persistent proposals to amend that constitution in recent years by the Agricultural Tarrification Act, the Seed Industry Development Act, Bank Liberalization Act, Retail Trade Liberalization Act, and the recently ratified Visiting Forces Act have all been attempts to change that law and have had devastating effects on the peasants, fisherfolk, and the industrial working classes.

In addition, Estrada has been waging a war on three fronts - the media, the Church, and the middle class. He sued the Manila Times last year for $1 million and then pressured the owners to sell the paper to his cronies. This drove the editorial staff out, who then set up the Pinoy Times, a political tabloid.

His persistent war against the Moro Islamic Front in Mindanao, has drawn the attention of the international media. Coupled with the ongoing internal struggle against the New People's Army, these internal wars are costly and ineffective to many. There is the belief that the threat is greatly exaggerated and could be negotiated by a politician more of a mind to do so.

Problems in Mindanao are entangled with another unpopular Estrada decision, the Visiting Forces Agreement of 1999, which opens the Philippines to American forces after the closing of the Clark Air Force and Subic Bay Bases in 1991. For many Filipinos this agreement flies in the face of the Philippine Constitution, which declared the Philippine islands to be a nuclear-free zone. Currently American ships and subs, many of which carry nuclear arsenal, going to and from the Persian Gulf can once again dock at Philippines.

The VFA was opposed by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines in 1999, alienating Estrada from the Catholic Church. The IBP, or the Integrated Bar of the Philippines, or the Bar Association also opposed the agreement. Verbal assurances that US military personnel would be subject to local law were not reflected in the written agreement.

The construction of a wharf and airfield very similar to those previously at Clark Air Force Base in Mindanao, has worried many Filipinos, who fear that its construction was more for American use than for Philippine. The project was given to a well-known defense contractor, Lois Berger International in Connecticut.

The Philippines has a long and complicated history with the US and military agreements. The Mutual Defense Treaty (1953), a one page, vaguely worded agreement, that did not hold in the case of involvement by China, was the post-war agreement between the Philippines and the United States.

Sentiments changed in the intervening years and in 1991, the Military Base Agreement was rejected. Clark and Subic Bay bases were closed as a result. The VFA (Visiting Forces Agreement) seems to reflect American economic interests more than Philippine security concerns. Dole Pineapple has massive holding in Mindanao prompting cynics to say that this and not the China threat or the Muslim rebellion, was the real reason for the agreement.

The Military Assistance Agreement is another aspect of the US-Philippine relationship that angers many Filipinos. Ninety-five percent of Filipino military equipment is American made. Filipinos love to joke about the absurdities of the arrangement. But it is the literal truth that more Filipinos have been killed in crashes of the Hughes helicopter than by militant gunfire. Most of the equipment they have received from the US has been dated and in the case of the Hughes helicopter, faulty.

Clean-up of toxic substances from the bases is another area in which Estrada seems unwilling to pursue Filipino interests. The direct victims of these toxic wastes were those who were re-settled to the areas around the bases after the eruption of the Mount Pinetubo volcano. Agent Orange dating from the Vietnam War is an issue as are the unexploded bombs that litter Crow Valley.

In the Joint Military Exercises held from February 28 through March 3 of this year in the Philippine Islands, 2000 American troops were flown in from Guam, Hawaii and Okinawa. The exercise was given the name Balikatan or shoulder to shoulder in Takalog. But increasingly Filipinos would prefer to shoulder their own burdens and let the U.S. do likewise. Years of American military presence have left a legacy of poverty, prostitution (600,000 in a population of ) and a weak self-defense. In the words of Orlando Mercato, the Secretary of Defense, "The current security relations of the Philippines has to be re-oriented. In the last 40 years, the Philippines has become one of the weakest armies in southeast Asia".. Time has come it seems to be liberated from their liberator.