AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF PHILIPPINE HISTORY
(Excerpts from book, The Philippine Society and Revolution)
Under the puppet regime of the Roxas era, It is said that there were major treaties and agreements
that were made in favor of the U.S imperialism of which were the Property Act, the Bell Trade Act,
The U.S-R.P, Military Bases Treaty and the U.S.-R.P Military Assistance Pact. In providing more
information and context about how powerful the imperialism was, it is of significance to assess
the treaties that were made in order for the U.S to have the equal rights just as the Filipinos who
are of this country, in addition, of which were used as a tool in order to gain access to the lands
and acquire the rights to gather resources at will. First, the Property Act is said that all the estate
and properties that the U.S government and its agencies before and after the month of July 4,
year 1946 shall be respected. The Bell Trade Act grants them to have the natural resources of
the Philippines and at the same time has given the dictation of the peso currency beneath it. The
U.S-R.P. Military Bases Treaty provided the U.S imperialism to gain control over the land for 99
years, and not only that, it is to be granted with several parts in the Philippines which are to be
considered its strategic points. The last treaty would then provide them the control over the military
of the Philippines.
But first, before all of these have begun to take away the freedom of the Philippines from the
tyranny of the U.S, Roxas, who was in favor with the Japanese, was selected immediately by his
imperialist masters because he can be blackmailed about his collaboration with the Japanese
thus, he was selected so that he will be controlled for the benefits of the colonization of the U.S.
During the puppet regime of Roxas, there were brutal acts that destroyed the poor in order for the
landlord power to increase in strength in the countryside. It is said that there were crimes that
were done and that the masses asked Roxas to have recognition for the rights of them to acquire
tools for self-defense against the brutality of their landlord thus a memorandum was sent but
instead, but instead of pursuing a strong strategy of arousing and mobilizing the people for
revolutionary armed struggle, the shyster's tricks were used in a life-or-death struggle. It is rather
to be an understatement to say that they had at least a slight mercy for the people, but there is
nothing to tell otherwise, in fact, in addition to their harsh treatment to those beneath them, that
the Lavas and Tarucs spread the lie about a “pacification” campaign was nothing but merely a
speaking tour but in reality, it cost many lives which was an act of sabotage. In other words, during
this regime, they never hesitated to attack the people who are under them.
After the death of Roxas in 1948, there came the next puppetry which was the Quirino Puppet
Regime. This was nothing short of betrayal as like the first one, as it is stated that Luis Taruc had
its statement saying that he did all of the negotiations in order to make propaganda, when in
reality it is nothing close to the fact that he was all in favor of the enemy thus reclaimed his seat
with the congress, the troops and those of secret agents of the Philippine Constabulary were
stated to be allowed to blend with the REd fighters of the Hukbalahap and in the barrios of Central
Luzon wherein they can enjoy safe conduct. Although it did not last for even two months, the
Taruc-Quirino amnesty agreement. To give emphasis even further on how cruel they were and to
how they will strive for measures in order to attain the benefits for their own good and not for their
fellow countrymen, the memorandum submitted was another act of surrendering to the authorities
of the reactionaries.
There were terrorism and employment of fraud just to be able to secure the victory against the
election of Laurel. To give further details, this is because in 1949, Jose Lava's leadership
continued the counterrevolutionary tradition of directly intervening in puppet elections by voting
for a reactionary party and being a tail for that faction. It backed Laurel against Quirino, which we
can also say, the Nacionalista Party versus the Liberal Party. Because of this, the dark history of
Laurel being the top puppet of the Japanese was further thrown into the abyss and furthermore it
is said that Quirino went loyal to the U.S Imperialism. Nevertheless, more and more attacks were
executed, they were harsh, and kept on attacking people, especially those in provincial capitals,
cities and camps which were done on March 29, August 26 and November 7, 1950, after the 1949
election in which Jose Lava leadership took the seat and prepared military operations. In addition,
this brought the most shattering loss on the Party and the people’s army.
During these times, not only were they brutal and punishing, but also graft and corruption were
given emphasis in this regime, in fact, the funds for the recovery from the damage of war were
depleted because of graft and corruption. In turn, they settled with the conservation of dollar by
having controls of import. Not only was there any corruption, but also, they took advantage of the
difficulties that the Philippines was facing for their own benefit so that there will be more of an
increase to the strength of the U.S. government.
Overall, Quirino still remained, willingly, a puppet dispute of the fact that he was being replaced
by Magsaysay as puppet president. Furthermore, prolonging the benefits of the Westerns,
continuing the solidification of the soulless entity of our leaders that twisted the minds and hearts
of the Filipinos, especially the poor and those in the agricultures.
Next is the Magsaysay puppet regime, which started in 1954 and lasted for about three years.
During this time, there were a lot of tricks up their sleeves in order to hide their demise from the
masses, which in turn that they are able to do so, they began to even acquire the state of the
Philippines by doing some revision, in fact they had an agreement which is called the LaurelLangley Agreement. It is stated here in short, that the U.S. are able to acquire more control in
terms of the economics in the Philippines that, as stated here that “adjustments in the quota
system and preferential treatment for Philippine raw materials were made only to deepen the
colonial and agrarian character of the economy”. Not only did this occur to ensure the control of
the U.S. but the Ramon Magsaysay puppet regime is stated to have signed the first Agricultural
Commodities Agreement wherein they give agricultural surplus to the U.S. and so that they can
establish a colony in terms of the pattern of the economy of the Philippines. From this, we can
see how they are slowly but surely trying to occupy every gap of weakness that holds the Filipino’s
strength together as they manipulate and attack the people. But during this time, they decided to
do something that is to cover up the puppetry by merely attacking the Chinese and making it
expensive for them to become Filpino citizens. Magsaysay was so in favor of the puppetry that
he let the U.S. to bring out the capital from our very own country by the foreign businessmen. Just
as stated before how they slowly try to take full control; they also created a law called AntiSubversion Law which restricts the democratic rights of assembly and expression. In 1954, the
SEATO gave permission to the U.S. to bring its allies to the Philippines which means that they
will gain privilege for the islands of the Philippines. In fact, this whole time span of the puppetry of
Magsaysay, with all the manipulation, treaties and agreements that became a showcase and
some paved way in achieving more control in the resources and places of the Philippines, they
became proud of the fact that Magsaysay was a running dog of the U.S. imperialism, which is
true because of how he dealt will all of these things and how he pretty much sold the pieces of
our country as he was chosen to be the next puppet even though Quirino still gives efforts to give
benefit for their own instead of the benefit for the whole nation.
By the death of Magsaysay in the year 1957, Carlos P. Garcia took the place for presidency of
the puppet republic. During this time, the establishment of reassembly and packaging plants by
U.S. monopolies and compradors to bypass the tariff wall that was supposed to limit the
importation of goods already locally manufactured angered some Filipino manufacturers using
local raw materials. And so, a reason why the manufactures who then use imported raw materials
were able to see the benefits of protection thus they were really wanting for more to the point that
they were asking for it loudly enough.
Since the control of the U.S. imperialism to the economy of the Philippines, here is another portrait
that shows the struggles of Filipino masses who are working and the foreign workers who are
able to get the most out of the benefits that they are receiving, even though the slogan that is
stated says otherwise which is “Filipino First”, it is by no means that it meant anything near that
as it says here that and also to consider the fact that the economy of the Philippines remains to
be under to the U.S. dollar.. In addition, it is said that after the fifties, the U.S. imperialism forced
the Garcia puppet regime to remove the foreign exchange control due to the fact that they want
what they say, “favorable climate” and was only supposed to be temporary because of the
depletion of U.S. dollars during the revolutionary mass movement which then basically saying
that they want more investments and unlimited remittance.
Under the Garcia puppet regime, American military bases were used to unleash violence against
Southeast Asian populations. These were used in 1958 to fund a right-wing insurgency against
the Indonesian people and to increase US involvement in Indochina. The Anti-Subversion Law
was passed in 1958 with the evil intent of putting the Communist Party of the Philippines out of
business. At about the same time, parallel to the reactionary government's anticommunist
maneuver, Jesus Lava exploited his status as Party general secretary by attempting to liquidate
the Party on his own with his "single-file" scheme, a policy of undermining any semblance of
democratic centralism within the Party.
During this time, the expansion gave effect to the U.S. imperialism and the Catholic Church which
is a part of the puppet republic. The United States Peace Corps was founded in 1961 by US
imperialism as another tool to exacerbate the Philippines' cultural and political subversion.
After Garcia, here comes the Macapagal puppet regime which lasted for about 3 years. He was
able to win against Garcia in 1961 when the presidential elections were held even despite the
efforts of Garcia using resources and facilities for his campaign. There was a mass struggle that
was occurring during this time, and that is because of the first act of the era’s imperialism; graft
and corruption shifting from the Central Bank to the Bureau and readjusted tariff system
accommodating the system of dollar allocations and this led to high prices which made the
masses to suffer because it cut down their real income.
There was even a program meant to increase the value of foreign loans and make less of the
local currency and even the economy as a whole. As a puppet was Macapagal during his time,
they even presented that the U.S. was the one that gave freedom, a fable indeed, and by doing
so, they changed the date of the day of independence so that it would seem. Continuing so, the
Macapagal puppet regime further enacted the Agricultural Land Reform Code. It is said that with
this code, the masses will be able to get their reasonable compensation if it so happened that, as
said, if a land were to be expropriated from them by the reactionary government but was a false
promise anyway. When the Macapagal puppet regime rabidly advocated for the sending of
Filipino paramilitary troops to engage in the US war of aggression against the Vietnamese people,
it revealed its puppetry to all Asian peoples. The revolutionary mass movement in the city marched
forward in response to the Macapagal puppet regime's reactionary policies. Workers, peasants,
students, and other patriots staged increasingly large protest demonstrations. In some time soon
to have come, the citizens of Angeles City and surrounding towns held a large meeting on
December 25, 1964, to denounce the murder of Filipinos inside US military bases and demand
that these bases be closed. In addition to their efforts, on January 25, 1965, 20,000 people,
combinations of employees, peasants, students, and the unemployed were said to move forward
to the puppet Congress and then to the US embassy in order for them to unravel l the workings
of US imperialism, feudalism, and bureaucrat capitalism in precise details.
Coming next is the Marcos puppet regime, which to start is the same as what Magsaysay has
done in the transferring from Liberal Party to the Nacionalista party. He did this without having to
do any changes in the political principles. Marcos was able to start his time in the presidency
when he beat Macapagal in the 1965 election to become the puppet republic's sixth president. In
1969, he then later ran for re-election and was able to defeat Liberal Party candidate Sergio
Osmena, Jr. In both of the two presidential elections, he faced an opponent who claimed
vehemently to be the best in terms of being the running dog as what they call them for the U.S.
imperialism. The thing is they wanted someone that is of Marcos’ characteristics.
Marcos’s puppet regime was said to enact as early as 1976 the law which was the Investment
Incentives Law which means to state its policy encouraging for foreign investments. This means
that the US imperialists are able to set up a scheme of interlocking companies in which a
"Philippine national" who already owns and hides 40% of a company invests in another company,
effectively increasing foreign ownership beyond 40%. Although, to keep things brief and short, it
only became detrimental for the Filipino masses as they are being abused of their statues as this
only, and is, favors the Philippines’ colonial status. This can be seen due to the fact that As a
result, the country is experiencing a serious financial crisis of unfavorable dimensions, thus the
rapid erosion of the peso's buying value both inside and outside the nation, the general public
must bear steeply rising prices.
In addition, because of this, there was none that was not affected because of this increased cost
of resources that are being imported from the U.S and that peso were devalued by a huge amount.
Using this as a cover up by their puppetry, they took this problem as an advantage, an excuse to
be able to open up for more U.S. investments. With this, they were able to take over enterprises
that could no longer pay their debts and so made new investments in the agricultural aspect.
Because of this event, the value of US properties in the Philippines, as well as Philippine foreign
debt, has immediately increased as a result of the peso depreciation. This made the Philippines
to be more dependent on the U.S. dollar, which we can see how they were able to play it out in
their favor to get the control they keep wanting towards the power they want to increase or even
acquire even more. To add to this information, Marcos even widened the major loans for building
sugar mills all over the country, because of this the beueractic capitalists which were led by
Marcos made even worse the economic crisis being faced by having kickbacks for all sorts of
projects and government contracts. It is also said that Marcos himself has beaten Macapagal in
terms of sending Filipino mercenary troops to fight in the US-led war on Vietnam and Indochina.
But during after those times, more and more rebellions were occurring as it is said that students
and teachers revolt against the reactionary educational system spanned the entire year of 1969,
as did peasant protests in Manila against landlords and fascist rule in the countryside, as well as
workers' strikes backed by student activists. This then led to them, although facing fascist
repression, the revolutionary mass movement becoming stronger year after year, rising in
frequency, growing in size, spreading through the provincial states, and bringing a deliberate
revolutionary message to the people. And so as it kept on going, their voices becoming stronger,
Marcos then declared martial law but this did not stop almost the rage of the Filipino masses as
military forces become more ready to face the peasants but then, at the end, The Marcos puppet
regime is enraging the people and hastening the fall of the semi-colonial and semi-feudal structure
by resorting to more counterrevolutionary violence.