Jasper A. Cruz
April 28, 2014
Reaction Paper # 1
STS – Prof. J. Sonido
April 28, 2014
Reaction Paper # 1
STS – Prof. J. Sonido
Reaction Paper: On People’s
Forum on US Militarism and its Impacts on the Philippine Environment
Are we,
Filipinos really free from colonizers? Have we been experiencing genuine
freedom already? – These are just some of the most cliché questions that have
been very much in the air nowadays. Often times, when there are certain simmering
issues about our relationship with other countries or perhaps mounting concerns
on treaty and agreement signings, many troubled citizens ponder on these
thought-provoking questions.
And, again, we ask ourselves these questions again, when United
States (US) President Barack Obama visited our country on April 28 in line with
the signing of a new defense agreement which allows rotations of US troops and ships through our country. Such
an act helps rebalance their country’s military power towards our growing
continent, Asia. This Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) that US
President Obama signed will primarily increase the presence of American troops
in our country, but, as President Obama’s stressed on his speech, US would not
reclaim their old bases and build new ones.
Thus, this issue has been presented piece by piece in the People’s Forum on US Militarism and its
Impacts on the Philippine Environment on April 24, 2014 at the Institute of
Environmental Science and Meteorology.
After hearing the talks by the speakers, particularly that
of Mr. Giovanni Tapang Ph.D., one of my realizations is that we were not really
freed from colonizers especially from the power of the Americans that is
evident in our country in various ways: (1) in the treaties and agreements that
we signed, (2) their presence and access to our military bases, and (3) their
access to our economy.
One basic truism that Dr. Tapang presented is that all human
acts impose danger such as pollution, and the US militarism is not exempted
from this basic axiom.
According to Dr. Tapang, the US Military Base is one of the
biggest polluters today as it produces a staggering 750, 000 tons of toxic
waste in just a single year. Also, it consumes a whopping 75, 000, 000 liters
of gasoline daily – this is equal to the consumption of the entire country of
Iran.
Though given all these data and figures, the United States
cannot take responsibility for their “polluting” actions and this is because of
the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which basically exempts the US from environmental
accountability, and this essentially leaves the “host country”, so to speak,
the responsibility of the environmental damages that they caused and the full
costs of cleaning the facilities they have used.
Personally, hearing what the SOFA is about alone made me
fundamentally disagree to the approval of the EDCA. Worst things beyond one’s
imagination can happen. Going back to a matter over a year ago, a US Navy Ship
ran aground Tubbataha Reef, a World Heritage Site in Sulu Sea which damaged
around 4 000 square meters of coral reef. The fine was only more than $2
million ($600 per square meter), but the US has not yet given us even a single
cent as a mulct.
Though this EDCA has a plus side to it such using the US equipment to
faster deploy in the event of natural calamities and other emergencies and to
secure its territory, (pertaining to the territorial dispute which our country
has been locked to for decades) its negative effects still outweigh the
agreement’s recompenses. I will only be for it if and only if there would be a
more thorough discussion about the matter and if the US would be open to make
compromises especially to the environmental and some economic concerns.
References:
Bbc.co.uk. BBC News. 28 Apr 2014. Web. 28 Apr 2014
Koo, Jimmy H. “The Uncomfortable
SOFA: Anti-American Sentiments In South Korea and The U.S.-South Korea Status
of Forces Agreement.” Digitalcommons.wcl.american.edu. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Apr
2014
Philstar.com. Philippine Star. 31 Mar 2013. Web. 28 Apr 2014
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