Article about the Philippines on Smithsonian Magazine

I came across an article from Smithsonian magazine about the Philippines from the point of view of a professional soldier and also a journalist. As a Filipino, it widened my view on how foreigners view my country of birth. It's a very interesting read. It talks about history, politics, the US presence among others. The article's title is 'Waging Peace in the Philippines'.

Here's an excerpt from the article.

"It struck me that the most pressing problem in today's Philippines isn't terrorism or even government corruption but poverty and a lack of social mobility. People at the bottom of society are trapped. That view has been expressed by Tina Monshipour Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network based in New York City. "Powerful ruling families stay in power because, after Spanish colonization, society is still essentially feudal. Those who don't own land have no voice, no rights, and virtually no representation." Since World War II, the Philippines has gone from being one of the richest countries in Asia to one of the poorest. About 15 percent of its people live on less than $1 a day, and the nation has one of the world's fastest-growing populations. People who don't own land have no way to feed their families other than to work, as they have for generations, on property belonging to large landowners like Pakila Datu. That's how these "rebels," and others like them, have ended up on the battlefield, fighting not for their own rights but for those of the big men they serve."

Here's another one:

"There are, of course, critics of the U.S. military presence in the Philippines. Some argue that the war on terror has provided Philippine president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo—a conservative member of the political elite, who was first elected in 2001—a blank check to destroy political opponents. "Arroyo is using a tool of the [Ferdinand] Marcos regime, extrajudicial execution," says McCoy. "She has run one of the most brutal state assassination campaigns—not on the terrorists, but on the remains of Socialist parties and activists." Earlier this year, Arroyo declared "all-out war" against leftist groups. Amnesty International has decried the government crackdown, saying it has led to more than 700 extrajudicial killings by paramilitary death squads since 2003. "President Arroyo is using the war on terror as a license to kill," says Monshipour Foster, the New York-based justice activist."

Here's the link.