HEADLINERS...

(click at blue dot to read story)

9-a: Protests take diverse creative forms;

           CBCP stand draws a 'rain of criticism'

9-b:  Ex-Senate chief Salonga files case vs. GMA;

            Salika writes senators not to 'do a Gloria' on JPEPA

9-c:  Citizens' audit body on 'illegitimate debts' formed

9-d:  Movement launched to promote Gender Harmony

9-e:   Fiscal, Financial Mining Deals Questioned

9-f: Jonas Burgos' mother on US speaking tour

9-g:  Public info drive vs. open burning launched

9-h: Fishers seek Senate probe of Spratlys deal

9-i:  Kamalaysayan recalls history of Japanese invasions

PHYSICAL gatherings have been growing and are being held in more and more places, all to protest the continuing the regime of corruption, lies and forced silence. The series of masses and mass-ups of people demanding the Truth in scandal-ridden government transactions over the last few days reached a highpoint last Friday with the inter-faith rally at the Ayala avenue in Makati, with crowd estimates ranging from  a very conservative estimate of 20,000 from the Makati police to the high figure of 80,000 reported by CBCPNewsOnline.

But most noteworthy in the current stream of mass protests has been the diversity of forms used in designing some of the specific events. Aside from the overflow crowds attending masses at various dates and points, there were the Tambulan para sa Katotohanan and the Walk-a-thon for Truth at the University of the Philippines, a concert at the Ateneo, noise barrage by people and their vehicles at La Salle Taft and many other points in Metro Manila. National Artist Dr. Bienvenido has composed a poem about Lozada and his crusade, and called on people to joiin the Ayala rally last Friday. There is the forthcoming Magkasangga para sa Katotohanan, a friendly exhibition basketball match between the arch-rival Ateneo and La Salle varsitarian teams scheduled for the next weekend (Palm Sunday) at the Araneta Coliseum.

A growing number of people have been spreading their protest messages via the internet and their cell phones. An interactive website, with an apt name-address, has been created for students and other citizens to post their comments on the clamor for complete truth disclosure and related issues. (To open this site, click here: http://www.delasalle.ph/bethechange), Also, mini-placards and mini-posters have been designed for posting everywhere, and some buildings have started wearing "Jun Lozada, Hindi Ka Nag-iisa!" streamers like sashes. Occupants of buildings along march routes have been raining confetti on marchers, applauding and cheering them, and offering them some food and cold drinks.

Star witness Rodolfo Noel 'Jun' Lozada, at times accompanied by prominent opposition figures that include former Presidents Corazon Aquino and Joseph Estrada, has been going on a tour of Metro Manila campuses in response to numerous invitiations from student organizations, registering record turnouts in each visit, even as a multitude of groups of various types and inclinations have felt both the urge and boldness to issue their own statements in the clamor for full transparency and accountability. The enthusiasm of the students has been well noted, to the pleasant surprise of opinion leaders who have almost completely given up on the youth as a source of hope for the betterment of the country.

Aside from narrating his ordeal especially when Arroyo administration operatives tried to keep him from testifying in the Senate probe of the ZTE-NBN deal, Lozada has repeatedly warned against allowing passionate anger overwhelming the better sensibilities of the protesters, saying emotions do cool down, but "we have to keep on taking the cudgels for the victims of corruption."  He and some other opinion leaders, including the SanibLakas Foundation, have reminded everyone in their respective statements and pronouncements to start the process of change from within, stressing that this fight cannot stop at merely changing whoever is the "resident evil" in Malacañang, obviously referring to incumbent President Arroyo. 

Meanwhile, various rallies have been reported from such cities as Baguio as Davao (details in the next dispatch).

[Please visit the websites of the two main television news networks in the Philippines, ABS-CBN and GMA-7, our ITAKDA! on-line calendar, and our VOICES folio for specific details/updates and complete texts.]

After a series of special meetings, the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines came out last week with a Pastoral Letter that stopped short of calling for the President's resignation but demanded the repeal of the Executive order 464, with which she has been keeping her Cabinet-rank and other officials from testifying in Senate investigation hearings.  This has been met with mixed reviews, with some quarters openly expressing disappointment over the prelates' desistance from calling for GMA's resignation, and others glad about the expected effect of the repeal of EO 464 -- fuller disclosure of truth before the closure.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reported these critical reactions from senators:

Senator Francis Escudero said Wednesday: "Nakakadismaya [I am dismayed], disappointing to say the least. While I respect the position they have taken, I disagree with it. In EDSA 1, the issue was election fraud, in EDSA 2 the issue was corruption. Today, with `Garci' and ZTE, we have the twin issues of cheating and stealing coupled with lying and yet the Church chose to take a softer stand."

Escudero referred to the popular uprisings backed by the military and the Catholic Church in 1986 and 2001 that led to the downfall of two presidents -- Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada -- and the twin issues that have spawned calls for Arroyo's resignation -- the wiretapped tapes linking her to poll fraud and the allegedly tainted national broadband network contract that was signed with China's ZTE Corp.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano also expressed his disappointment: "You cannot teach GMA [Arroyo initials] new tricks…While we fully respect the opinion of the CBCP, my personal opinion is mas hahaba [it will take longer]. I have been with the opposition since 2004, some saw it in 2001…[The CBCP position] could have been bolder."

Senator Panfilo Lacson said in Filipino, "The CBCP not calling for Arroyo's resignation is understandable. The bishops will become more politicized if their call will reach that. It is enough for us in the Senate that the CBCP call is to rescind EO 464."

However, Lacson said asking Arroyo to lead the drive against corruption was like an empty call or even a call for a thief to stop the stealing.

Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said, "After so much groaning and breast-beating, the CBCP calls for more prayers. Prayers are more powerful than our posturing as politicians. Problem is you can't say it's effective until God answers."

And the Philippine Star reported many other adverse reactions, which it described as "a rain of criticism":

"They are playing blind to the truth that millions of Filipinos want the President to resign for widespread corruption and failed governance," Rep. Edno Joson of Nueva Ecija told reporters. "They have adopted a see no evil, hear no evil stance on the problems Mrs. Arroyo is facing," he said. Joson, an independent lawmaker, is the author of a bill calling for a snap presidential election to resolve the raging political crisis.

Militant groups led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said CBCP's call for Mrs. Arroyo to lead in the fight against corruption was "absurd and misleading." Bayan said the people remain determined to hold Mrs. Arroyo accountable "for her lies and crimes." "While we welcome the appeal of the bishops for a `determined and relentless' search for the truth and for Arroyo to abolish Executive Order 464, (we think that) the CBCP errs grievously in its assertion that Arroyo could `take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found' and that she will `allow her subordinates to reveal any corrupt acts, particularly about the ZTE-NBN deal,'" said Bayan chair Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo. "Arroyo has long lost the moral ascendancy to lead the fight against corruption in government because of persistent and unresolved cases of big time corruption that reach the highest levels of the bureaucracy, including Malacañang itself," she pointed out.

Rafael Mariano, chairman of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas said that with their statement, the bishops "failed to seize the chance to lead the people against the most corrupt and fascist regime this country has ever seen." "This is expected though considering that majority of its composition are conservatives and some have long been courted by the Macapagal-Arroyo regime with so-called donations and special treatment. In a sense some bishops have been tainted by evil or in other words Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," Mariano said.

The Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya), for its part, said it still hopes the CBCP will have a change of heart. "The CBCP has no option but to correct the ill-conceived Gospel rejecting calls for the bishops to make a statement asking Mrs. Arroyo to step down," said Fernando Hicap, national chairman of Pamalakaya. "The sweeping outrage across the nation compelling President Arroyo on allegations of multi-billion peso corruption in the government cannot be ignored by the Catholic bishops," he said.

On the other hand some observers, mostly within the Church-led groups say the CBCP has placed the chief executive in a no-win situation, since acquiescence to the call would allow more explosive revelations to be aired strongly hinting or even alleging outright her direct involvement in criminal wrongdoing, but refusal would almost certainly indicate that her group really has something to hide from the sovereign body politic.

Former President Fidel V. Ramos, himself an EDSA-1 player, said after last Friday's Makati rally that the protest movement's growth so far was still far off from its strength in February 1986.  

History marches on with the current chapter being written by the people themselves in their teeming tens of millions, through what they do and what they refuse to do. And the overall configuration changes, even if very gradually, with every new revelation, with every passing day.

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FORMER Senate President Jovito R. Salongs has filed with the office of the Ombudsman a case against President Arroyo who as incumbent head of state is immune from facing trial but not from investigative process.

Acting on behalf of Kilosbayan and Bantay-Katarungan, Salonga filed the case "for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (RA No. 3019, as amended); Anti-Plunder Law (RA No. 7080); and Code of Conduct (RA 6713)." 

The former Senate chief took note of the "express admission" made by Arroyo in a televised radio interview over DZRH made on or around February 23, 2008 "that she has known as early as April 20, 2007 that the $329 million National Broadband Network (NBN) deal with ZTE Corporation, was flawed and anomalous," and "that she had been informed by the then Director General ofthe National Economic Development Authority Romulo Neri about the P200 million bribery attempt on him by then Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos." 

Salonga charged that Arroyo, "despite the foregoing knowledge, did not stop or suspend the deal, let alone order its investigation, but instead went on to authorize and sanction the signing ofthe NBN-ZTE deal agreement between her Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza and ZTE Corp. Vice President Yu Yang, which signing she proceeded to personally witness on or around April 21, 2007, which date is next day following April 20, when according to her she came to know of the anomaly."

He continued: "Respondent (Arroyo) cancelled the contract only on September 22, 2007 or five months after having known the anomaly and her having witnessed the signing of the deal, and only after the Supreme Court had ordered its implementation to be temporarily stopped, and after the Senate had exposed the scandal."

The elder statesman appealed to the Office of the Ombudsman,  being the "protectors of the people" to act promptly on complaints in any form or manner against public officials or employees... and investigate on its own when any act or omission appears to be illegal, unjust, improper or inefficient."

Meanwhile, the organization existing a broad active stakeholdership base for environmental concerns wrote all incumbent senators pleading with them not to "do a Gloria" in ratifying the Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).  The Sanib-Lakas ng Inang Kalikasan (SALIKA), through its national spokesperson George O. Dadivas, e-mailed each senator to underscore that hey have had the chance to really study the JPEPA document and the presentations made by Magkaisa Junk JPEPA Coalition and other oppositors during Senate committee hearings on the accord, and are therefore duty-bound to vote on it with full knowledge of its fatal flaws.  (Read full text in our VOICES section.)

SALIKA said it was ridiculous for President Arroyo to allow the NBN-ZTE deal to be signed, and to even witness the signing, knowing beforehand that it was a flawed agreement. Completely written in Filipino, the statement continued:

"Kayo naman po bang mga senador ay gagaya sa kanya? Ira-ratify po ba ninyo ang JPEPA na noong una'y pakubling pinirmahan ni GMA matapos ang nakakubli ring negosasyon?  Kayo po ba ay magpapakatotoo, o tutulad sa kanya at magmamaang-maangan, magbubulag-bulagan at magbibingi-bingihan din? Dumadalangin po kaming sana po ay huwag naman!"

(Will you the senators imitate her? Will you still ratify JPEPA which was signed by GMA after being negotiated in secrecy?  Will you stand for the truth or will you also feign lack of foreknowledge, pretend to be blind and pretend to be deaf? We are praying that you would not!}

"Malaki po ang nagagawa ninyo sa pagbunyag ng katotohanan, pagwasto sa mga pagkakamali at pagpigil sa mga katiwalaan sa pamahalaan.  Subalit  higit sa lahat, ang pinakamabuti ninyong magagampanan pa sa ngayon ay ang lubos na pagtatanggol sa karapatan at likas na yaman ng ating bayan, sa pamamagitan ng mahigpit na pagtutol at pagbabasura sa tratadong JPEPA!

(You have been serving well the people in having the truth revealed, righting wrongs and mitigating corruption in government. But most of all, the best you can still do as of now is to fully uphold our rights and defend our natural resources by firmly rejecting and consigning to the garbage heap this proposed treaty.)

Dadivas also asked the senators to spend quality time to really study the treaty and the oppositors' presentation. It would be inexcusable not to fully know up to now the proposed treaty's fatal flaws after all the presentations and discussions on it. And it would be doubly ridiculous to ratify it while fully knowing all the harm JPEPA would cause the present and future generations of Filipinos to suffer. 

for further reference, please click  here .

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THERE is now a citizens' audit body to scrutinize agreements entered into by the government involving loans which may likely be illegitimate, onerous and laced with corruption. This body was launched Monday, March 3, with former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. and nationalist social analyst Prof. Randy David included in its roster of members.

Launched at the Bocobo Hall of the University of the Philippines Law Center in Diliman, Quezon City by the Dreedom from Debt Coalition (FDC) and partner groups, the new Citizens' Debt Audit Commission will put under scrutiny the scandal-ridden ZTE-NBN Deal now also being investigated by the Senate.

The creation of this independent body is seen as "a decisive first step in fundamentally addressing the country's lingering indebtedness problem," organizers said in invitation fliers received by Slish Network News.

The citizen commission will complement the highly awaited Congressional auditing of public debt by filling in the gaps of the inquiry, raising questions beyond the limits of the parliamentary initiatives, and by putting forward recommendations sourced from the people's genuine standpoint on the problem.  

further reference, please call Jofti Villena or Bruce Amaroto at (02) 9246399, or (02) 9211985, or (02).

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FIRMLY believing that the liberation of women from the shackles of patriatchy, and the latter's patterns of thinking behavior, is in in the best interest of entire human commuinities, a new movement was launched last February 22 to promote the paradigm of gender harmony.  Dubbed "Kaisari for "kaisahan ng mga sari" the group grows out of the Lambat-Liwanag Network's task force and empowering paradigm on gender harmony the advocacy and development of which covers and underpins both the pursuit of gender sensitivity and that of gender equality.

The initiators include both women and men advocates of "synergetic team-ups between the halves of humanity," including SanibLakas lead founder Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, and the first chairperson of the Lambat-Liwanag network for Empowering Paradigms Dr. Noemi Alindogan.  Others who have immediately joined in were Mila R. Garcia, Norma Tinambacan, Joydee Robledo-Elizondo, Surf Reyes, Amy Romero, Allen David, Cora Claudio, and Mars Mendoza.

Ten years ago, SanibLakas Foundation came out with a statement saluting "the women and also the men who are enlightened enough to really work hard for the women's liberation from patriarchy." The statement said, in part, "No positive social change is possible without (such liberation). No social change can be complete without it,

The KAISARI (Kaisahan ng mga Sari) Movement for the Promotion of Gender Harmony intends to strengthen itself as a formation of conscious stakeholders in healthy (that is, synergetic) relationships between the genders and are willing to study and promote it for social and personal practice. In this movement of both men and women, the members declare it to be their free and informed choice to serve this sense of stakeholdership actively and as group effort. Group members will maximize all available communication technologies to avoid having to physically gather in frequent meetings and will do their work in their own natural milieu, using all communication means available to them.

The group has started to communicate with various women's groups to convince them to pursue their feminism and gender-based advocacies in living teamwork with men who are now largely unconscious but real stakeholders in attaining gender harmony as part of the conscious oneness of humanity.

One of the favorite references of the group is Nancy Smith's poem, For Every Woman.  Another is Dr. Serafin Talisayon's essay on the "Feminine Principle." 

On Sunday, March 9, the Kaisari Movement for Gender Harmony, in cooperation with the LightShare e-mail list group and other entities within the Human Development and Harmony (HDH) Family, will hold a three-hour free-wheeling sharing session on gender harmony. LightShare Live! will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. "over light snacks" at the Merced Bakehouse along EDSA, very near the cor. of Quezon Ave., in Quezon City.

Initial planning will also be done for a advcacy video production training and Mini-festival on Motherhood with the video productions of the participants to be shown on Mothers' Day this May. 

Groups and individuals interested to link up with this movement may send their e-mails to kaisari.2008@yahoo.com.

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THE SUPREME COURT has been asked anew to scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. Mining-affected communities mainly from the Indigenous Peoples in Mindanao and Nueva Vizcaya, together with three members of the House of Representatives, filed with the Supreme Court Monday a petition to scrap the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or Republic Act (RA)7942.

          Akbayan Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, Quezon (4th District) Rep. Lorenzo Tanada III and Bayan-Muna Representative Teddy Casiño accompanied the various community petitioners in filing separate petitions against the "legality and constitutionality" of the Mineral Production Sharing Agreements (MPSA) and the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreements (FTAAs) , respectively of the Mining Act. These agreements are particular Sections 80 and 81 of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.

          The critics and opponents of the Mining Act are pleading with the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining Order (TROs) on the ongoing FTAAs and MPSAs, respectively and cancel or deny their existing applications. They are asking the High Tribunal to declare the Philippine Mining Act of 1995 or the RA 7942, including its implementing rules and regulations and other similar administrative issuances, unconstitutional.

          The petitioners cited the onerous and unjust fiscal regimes under the Mining Act , preventing the Philippine government from getting its just share in the revenues from mining operations and thus, violating the constitutional principle and provision of "equitable sharing of wealth" in the utilization of the nation's natural resources, including minerals.

          Those opposing the FTAAs contend that the law unduly delegates legislative powers to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). They further assert that Section 81 of RA 7942 and the DENR Administrative Order (DAO) 2007-12 nullify the Philippine state's role as owner-in-trust and as an investor in mining and minerals utilization of the country. The government's source of revenue will largely rely on the collection of taxes, fees and royalties, as part of the state's inherent police and taxation powers.

          Petitioners against the MPSA contend that Section 80 of the Mining Act short-changed the government's share of revenues by "explicitly limiting government's share to excise taxes" only.

          "The challenge is about limiting government's share to mere excise taxes and therefore maybe short-changing government. The power of taxation is a given role of the state. MPSA therefore, does not provide a just share for the government from the revenues arising from mining operations done on Philippine soil," asserts Atty Rowena Fely S. Licas, of the Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center-Kasama sa Kalikasan (LRC-KsK) and one of the petitioners' legal counsels.

          "The fiscal regimes of the Mining Act of 1995 face serious constitutional challenge as being gravely flawed. This clearly puts into serious doubts the government's claims about a huge financial and economic benefits that the Filipino people will gain from opening our country to large-scale mining", said Atty. Rhia Muhi of LRC-KsK. To date, 262 existing MPSAs in various parts of the country gobble up 422, 804.07 hectares that include sizeable indigenous lands. Two FTAAs cover 447,308.26 hectares that include indigenous communities, with 54 more FTAA applications targeting 2, 350,643.34 hectares of land in the country.

          In Macambol, Mati, Davao Oriental, the Pujada Nickel project is said to be financed by the BHP-Billiton, the world's largest mining transnational company, with an estimated $1.5 billion in investments.  

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JUST TWO MONTHS short of a full year after the abduction of her agriculturist son Jonas in their home province of Bolacan, Edita Tronqued Burgos recently embarked on a seven-city speaking tour in the United States to bring to the awarenes of Filipino Americans and the Americans there the case of her missing son.

     She is set to narrate her agony over the past months not only from the loss of her son but also from the treatment she has been receiving from the military brass who have consistently denied involvement in the disappearance of Jonas.

     Mrs. Burgos, widow of the late We Forum and Malaya publisher-editor Jose G. Burgos Jr., also plans to take the cudgels of many other victims of involuntary disappearances in the country.  The series of public speaking engagements started last weekend in a benefit dinner sponsored by the New York Committee on Human Rights.

     In New Yourk, Mrs. Burgos is also set to meet with United Nations special rapporteur Philip Aslton. Alston's report last year stated that the government's military forces were the main perpetrators of the the extra-judicial killings. Top military officials immediately denied this absolutely but the Alson report was fully documented. 

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MARKING the start of Fire Prevention Month early this week, environmental activists joined local community leaders and members in Barangay Kalusugan in Quezon City in rasing the level of awareness and support for the the legislated national ban on open mining.

          "By raising public awareness about the problems with open burning, we hope that more people will abide by the law, as spearheaded by the barangay councils, and discontinue this unhealthy practice that only turns our solid waste problem into a serious chemical threat to our people's health," Merci Ferrer of the EcoWaste Coalition said. "This is part of our active promotion of ecological solutions to the garbage crisis that continues to haunt us," she added.

          The EcoWaste Coalition is specifically referring to Section 48 of Republic Act 9003, the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, which, among others, bans the open burning of solid waste and penalizes violators with a fine amounting to P300 to P1,000 or 1 to 15-day imprisonment or both.

          Residents led by Barangay Captain Robin Porlaje welcomed the advocates for the ecological approach to managing discards who briefed them about the adverse impacts of open burning, including respiratory diseases, cancers and other serious ailments that can be triggered or worsened by the toxic byproducts of burning waste materials.

          "We commend the EcoWaste Coalition for this timely advocacy to protect the people's health from the toxic practice of burning garbage," stated Porlaje, who leads this vibrant community of 2,600 individuals. "Our Barangay Council is committed to enhancing the health of our community members and will take action to enforce the ban on open burning. We exhort the other barangays in Quezon City and elsewhere to wage a common fight against open burning," he further said.

          To get their message across, the environmental campaigners from the EcoWaste Coalition and Mascomthea dressed themselves in fiery colors of fire to mimic the illicit practice of burning discards, while others hold skull and crossbones cutouts of dioxins, the most notorious environmental pollutants resulting from the burning of chlorinated materials.

          "Dioxins belong to an initial set of 12 extremely toxic substances known as the 'dirty dozen' that the international community, including the Philippines, seeks to eliminate for the protection of human health and the environment," explained Manny Calonzo of the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives.

          According to the EcoWaste Coalition, a concerted action by all members of the society is required to rid the environment of these toxic contaminants, starting with concrete steps that will prevent and reduce the quantity and toxicity of discarded resources and promote the ecological management of resources.  

for more information, contact Manny Calonzo, Eco-Waste, (02) 4364733 or (02) 9290376

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AN AGREEMENT was allegedly signed between the Philippines and China that places marine life in our inland watters in grave danger and vioating Filipino fisherfolks’ exclusive rights to fish in the area. This was brought to the attention of the Senate by the militant Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (PAMALAKAYA), who also asked the senators to investigate the agreement.

          According to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, an official from the Department of Foreign Affairs was earlier reported to have raised questions about the deal signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo with the Chinese government for the joint exploration of Philippine-claimed territories in the disputed Spratlys group of islands which is believed to be rich in mineral and aquatic resources.

          "This is against the country's national sovereignty and patrimony, and would deny the Filipino fishermen their exclusive fishing rights,' said PAMALAKAYA chairman Fernando Hicap.

          Pamalakaya asked the Senate to undertake a separate and thorough investigation into the alleged sellout of the country's exclusive economic zone to China's offshore oil giants. There was no immediate word about the Senate’s official response.

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"WILL THE senators give in peace what Japan failed to win in war?"  This was the question e-mailed by a sense-of-history organization to each of the members of the Philippine Senate to warm them of the implications of ratifying the proposed Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement.  The letter sent by the 17-year-old Kamalaysayan, short for Kaisahan sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan starts with what its chairperson, Prof. Bernard LM. Karganilla, wrote in his regular column in the Malaya national broadsheet daily.

         The column item carried long passages recalling Japan's long history of aggression in the east Asian region. Karganilla wrote in his Malaya column:

          A kingdom can be carved out of conquest, but that rooster will come home to roost. The Japanese in the haze of their militarism ran wild in the Asia-Pacific but their rampage was brought to a halt by strange, new weapons that fell from the sky.

          It began when a monarch of the Yamato invaded Korea, making the peninsula her tributary. It ended when the American shogun took the Tenno off his high horse and brought his "celestial" chambers back to earth.

          Toyotomi, fuelled by personal ambition, tried to invade China and failed miserably. Though he locked Japan’s doors afterwards, the so-called land of the rising sun could not keep out the Westerners, especially when Commodore Perry and the black ships came calling centuries later.

          Seventeen countries invked the Townsend Harris concept of Extra-Territoriality in Japan, yet it only bestirred the Yamato to embark on its own hegemonism in the form of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95. As a prize, the Mikado took the Liaoyang Peninsula and other territories from the Qing Dynasty.

          "Japan placed her feet on the continent, the possession of the islands which assured her the supremacy of the Chinese Seas, and imposed her machines and industries on the vanquished nation. If she did not want to annex it, she at least wanted to make sure that she should exploit it." [Paul Lafargue, "The Chino-Japanese War," Justice, June 1, 1895]

          Then, in 1904-5, it was turn of the Russian Czar to take a beating at the hands of the Japanese. Ten years hence, with appetites whetted, the hegemonists joined the winning side in the First World War. More booty, more desires.

          In the Roaring Twenties, the rural and bourgeois youth of Japan were indoctrinated into the barracks life. They came of age and were fed as cannon fodder in the violence of the Great Depression.

          The Japanese re-invaded China, raping Nanjing in 1937. The circle of destruction grew. Mongolia was assaulted, but the terrorists of Tenno were repulsed. French Indochina was suborned and the stage was set for an inescapable confrontation with the Western powers.

          The collapse of Anglo-Saxon rule in many parts of the Orient aggravated the endangerment of the democracies as the Fascist machine rolled across Europe and Africa. Be that as it may, the Japanese were wrong to assume that they would be invincible overlords.

          An example of their big booboo was the public commitment of the Koiso administration to a Japanese victory at Leyte, likening the campaign to the 1582 Battle of Tennozan, which was a Japanese historical juncture. "Thus, Koiso effectively proclaimed to the nation that the victor at Leyte would win the war." [Richard B. Frank. Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire. NY: Penguin Books, 1999, p. 90]

          Guess what? The Allies -- Americans, Australians and Filipinos -- won at Leyte. The Japanese predicament could not be remedied by a simple change of administration. Worse for them, though the Emperor himself may have wanted to extricate his tentacles from the South Seas and have a negotiated peace that would let him keep some of his ill-gotten gains, Hirohito also wanted one more big win before any ceasefires.

          On June 9, 1945, Hirohito’s Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal wrote a "Draft Plan for Controlling the Crisis Situation," which tied a Japanese withdrawal from the battlefield to the granting of independence of the former European colonies in Southeast Asia and Southwest Pacific and the mediation of a power not yet embroiled in the Great Eastern War.

          On the Allied side, it was settled that Japan would be strangled with a range of offensives, from the minimum of a blockade and bombardment to the maximum of an invasion of Kyushu. The choice given to the enemy was unconditional surrender or ultimate defeat.

          On the Japanese side, the non-negotiable item was the preservation of the Chrysanthemum Throne. Their nightmare scenario was the disillusioned masses rising in a Communist revolution. Thus, the imperial staffers were frenzied into hatching a Ketsu-Go (Decisive Operation) master plan to defend their home islands, envisioning the annihilation of expected American beachheads at Kyushu and do-or-die conditions in six other areas.

          Japan was spared of a Soviet Occupation and horrendous land battles with Americans. Japan escaped a revolution (native, liberal democratic or Communist) and Hirohito kept his crown and his head. The Japanese acceded to an American Occupation, but only after the firebombing of Tokyo and the nuking of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

          The war was precipitated and managed by the Japanese militarists on behalf of their deified king. The Japanese people sacrificed their health, happiness and homes for the enrichment of the Emperor, his warlords and the zaibatsus.

          After this historical account provided by its chairman, Kamalaysayan challenged the Senators to make sure they would not be giving Japan the economic domination of its coveted "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" which she failed to win in war, in the centuries-long series of physical assaults and occupation she undertook against her neighbors.

          Signed by the organization’s lead founder and spokesman, Prof. Ed Aurelio C. Reyes, Kamalaysayan said toward the end of its email message to the senators: “We would soon find out, and note fully well -- for posterity, for collective memory, for history -- which senators will ape a powerful lady politician in knowing well in advance the harmful consequences of this treaty and vote, anyway, to ratify-banzai!!! ...and let japan have the trophy she had ultimately failed to win in war: an empire across her long-coveted "greater east asia co-prosperity sphere."

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