There was good reason why Filipino patriots resisted US military presence and intervention 113 years ago. That the Aquino administration is now geared towards increasing US military presence and intervention in the country shows that President Aquino failed to learn the lessons that history has to offer.
Thus said Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luz Ilagan on the eve of the nation’s commemoration of the Philippine American War.
“We were never treated as equals. When the Americans arrived 113 years ago, they killed Filipinos, including children by the thousands. At least 200,000 were killed in the US campaign against General Miguel Malvar in Batangas. US General Jake Smith ordered the killing of 50,000 Filipinos, including children, in Samar. Hundreds of Muslim men women and children died in the massacres of Bud Dajo and Bud Bagsak in 1906 and 1913,” Ilagan noted.
Gabriela Women’s Party has filed HB 1387 Declaring February 4 of every year as “Araw ng Pagdakila sa mga Pilipinong Nagbuwis ng Buhay noog Digmaang Pilipino-Amerikano.” http://gabrielawomensparty.
“Every year that we fail to remember and honor our heroes, is another year of blindness to the lessons of history. It is another year of errors that will subject Filipinos to the horrors of foreign domination.”
The Gabriela solon further said that lessons must be also learned on how the US values Filipino women and children. “The harrowing experiences of violence — the rape, prostitution and abuse must not be forgotten. That no victim was ever accorded justice and that the Visiting Forces Agreement which allows their presence automatically deprives Filipino victims of the chance at justice, should be more than enough to wake us up from the illusion that they are here to help.”
FOR REFERENCE
REP. LUZ ILAGAN 0920-9213221
Jang Monte (Public Information Officer) 0917-4049119
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