APL Statement on the 104^th Anniversary of the Philippine Independence
12 June 2002

When our forefathers, under the leadership of Andres Bonifacio and the Katipunan, raised the cry of revolution in 1896, they had a clear notion of what they were fighting for: Kalayaan. To them, Kalayaan meant not only throwing off three centuries of ruthless Spanish colonialism, it also meant liberating the masses from the cruelty of poverty, inequality, and ignorance.

The same ideals animated the working class when they established the Union Obrera Democratica (UOD) in 1902. Inspired by the Katipunan revolt and acquiring the new ideals of trade unionism and the struggle for class interests, the UOD spearheaded the first general strike in 1902 and the first May Day mobilization in 1903 – which called for ending the US colonial rule.

As we mark the 104^th anniversary of our independence, we find the celebrations wanting in substance. Once again we are confronted by the expanding presence of US military forces. Having the Abu Sayaff as a convenient excuse, Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo allowed the return of US military forces and has effectively rolled back the gains of more than a century of nationalist struggles.

But more than this, nearly half of our population is living in absolute poverty. This alone proves that we have yet to truly attain our Kalayaan. After all, a hungry person is not a free person.

While the abject poverty of our people injures our notion of Kalayaan, and it is the continued presence of American troops that insults our Kalayaan.

As one writer correctly puts it, the poverty of our people is a product of two realities: first, the reality of economic underdevelopment, and second, the reality of inequality. Yet how did we come to this? We need to look back to our past to find the answer.

On June 12, 1898, Emilio Aguinaldo declared Philippine Independence in Kawit, Cavite, and final victory was imminent, when, alas, came an armada of American battleships in Manila Bay that supposedly pounded into smithereens the Spaniards’ last bastion in Intramuros. In hindsight, it was really a mock battle between the US and Spain for even before that naval tragicomedy, the Spanish government already sold the Philippines to the US for $20 million, through the infamous Treaty of Paris. Indeed, the so-called Battle of Manila Bay signaled the formal entry of the Filipinos’ new colonial master. Eventually the Americans made us believe that if not for them, the Filipinos would have remained oppressed and colonized. The US championed itself as the true protector of freedom and democracy, and to remain under its wings, we would surely achieve economic prosperity and enjoy the benefits of American “civilization.”

Now we know that this was a myth. In fact it was our “special relationship” with the United States that prevented us from exploring the full range of options available to nations that were just rising from their colonial past.

The ruling elite’s reliance on American patronage worked like a curse upon our nation’s economic, political and cultural life. It was quite late when we realized that being a client state of America had made us into a weak nation.

While vigorously pursing the implementation of a neocolonial economy and patronage politics, a succession of US and Philippine governments did not relent in destroying the working people’s democratic instrument to counterbalance the ruling elites – the country’s trade union movement.

And now that a new world economy had opened up, we seem incapable of defending ourselves from its ravages. Why? Because we are still being lorded by a ruling class that continues to be fattened by our “special relationship” with the US, and therefore has conveniently ignored the lessons of history.

Today the delicate social balance that the elite defended fiercely from the time of independence is falling apart. Any attempt to solve it in an enduring way will have to involve an overhaul of our basic political and economic institutions.

It is in this context that the Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL) commits itself to continue the struggle for Kalayaan. Through social movement unionism, it vows to fight against the presence of American troops in the country and to vigorously resist any moves toward the reinsertion of foreign military bases. It vows to continue educating, organizing and mobilizing the working people to liberate: themselves from oppression, poverty, inequality, ignorance and powerlessness; and our country from the clutches of foreign intrusions and subjugation. In short, until we fully realize our Kalayaan! 

The APL is a national labor center espousing social movement unionism and as such embraces various forms workers’ organizations around the country operating both in the formal and informal sector.

Posted to the APL website 12-June-2002

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