Dewey’s victory

The US’ occupation of the Philippines began with the invading forces of then-commodore George Dewey that defeated the Spanish fleet on Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. He was supposed to help the Philippine revolutionary army under Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo expel the Spaniards from the Philippines.

But in a treacherous move, the US, a supposed ally, became the enemy and its forces fired on the Filipinos. That ignited the Filipino-American War that saw thousands of Filipinos massacred and hundreds of US Marines dying from bullet wounds and malaria. This led to the eventual capture of the Philippines and the establishment of the US as a colonial power. The US military bases were established and expanded greatly.

The monument is a reminder of the country’s long struggle for sovereignty and freedom from the dominance of the US military and the sexual enslavement of women and children to meet the demands of US servicemen, accommodated by corrupt Filipino politicians who got rich from the exploitative enterprise.

After 23 years of freedom from US military presence, then-president Benigno Aquino III had his defense chief sign the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) on April 28, 2014. This allowed the US military to pre-position troops and weapons inside existing Philippine bases or new ones created for the purpose of accommodating them.

In 2023, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. expanded the number of Philippine military bases to nine that could be, in effect, taken over by the US military. These nine bases are or will be armed with missiles and drones to counter China’s threat to invade nearby Taiwan.

China has already taken over and occupied Philippine sovereign coastal waters and built bases on atolls and islands along the country’s coastline with no effective deterrence from the US.

Now, the US is proposing to establish a factory in Subic Bay’s former naval depot. There, the US will produce ammunition and assemble missiles and drones, or AMD. They are ready for hostilities with Beijing, thus making Subic Bay — and the Philippines — a prime target for any initial or retaliatory Chinese missile strike.

Tensions are rising in the South China Sea, and the real danger comes with the latest project — the AMD — to prepare for a US-China conflict. Politicians may make money, but the AMD threatens an economic meltdown as investors flee a possible war zone. Lost jobs will create a socioeconomic disaster for Filipinos.

Until that becomes reality, as it surely will, hundreds of US servicemen and civilians will be stationed at Subic Bay as the manufacturing plant grows. The servicemen will once again be seeking sexual pleasure, alcohol and drugs.

Will local politicians welcome or resist a return to the child-abusing sex city of infamy that Olongapo once was?

If there are enough Filipinos who live by the values of the Gospel, they can oppose the rise of such social evil and do good to protect the innocent./PN