Title: US-Philippines Relations: Resurgent Neocolonialsm
Author: Sonny Africa, Executive Director, IBON Foundation

Voices from the South E-Newsletter: February 2014

Description:

In January 2014, participants from around the world met in Davao City, the Philippines for an international conference on “US Intervention in the Affairs of Sovereign Nations: Ecumenical-Theological Perspectives.” The conference was coordinated by the Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF), a fellowship of Filipino bishops who have a common goal of supporting the struggle of the people for genuine freedom, justice, human rights, and sustainable peace. The aim of the conference was to call attention to the serious harm that is being caused to people and environment in the Philippines by the activities of the US military and US-linked trans-national corporations.
In this month’s “Voices from the South,” Sonny Africa, Executive Director of the IBON Foundation in the Philippines, discusses the new proposed agreements between the US and the Philippines for greater US military presence in the country and the adverse impacts it will have on the sover- eignty and dignity of the Filipino people. After nearly fifty years of U.S. colonial presence in the Philippines (1898 to 1946), such a shift in military presence represents a resurgent neocolonialism presence in the country.
The article is based on a presentation given by the author at the EBF Conference in Davoa City.

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