(Shamsul Islam was recently in Manila. We are here publishing his impressions of presnt day Filipino society and the similarities it bears with the situation in India.    – Editor)

India and Philippines, though thousands of kilometers apart, present an interesting study in similarities. Despite the fact that these two countries belong to two different cultural milieus with minimal interaction, any visitor from India is startled by the parallel happenings at socio-political and economic fronts. These  similarities are not just coincidental but are the necessary fall-out of the choice of the ruling elites of the two countries to be part of ‘Globalized world’.

The most shocking similarity is the complete disregard for a great anti-colonial legacy in the two countries. We are familiar with the philosophical roots of the RSS/BJP ruling elite in India that historically kept out of the anti-colonial struggle against the British colonial rule. From 1998 onwards, with the ascendancy of the current RSS/BJP Government in India, surrender before western imperialist powers has become naked. It is no more taken as a joke in India that if it rains in Washington, Indian leaders are seen under umbrellas!

In Philippines, country-folks have been witnessing the unfolding of the same script. People of Philippines are known for their heroic resistance to Spanish colonialisation (1521-1898) and later to American subjugation (1902-1938) and for a short period during World War II, to Japanese Rule. History is witness to the fact that the common people of Philippines fought for saving every inch of their motherland from the marauding imperialist powers.

The ruling elite of today’s Philippines, as of India, has chosen to break away completely from the anti-colonial legacy, which challenged the mightiests of world powers. The Philippines, though an independent-sovereign Republic, today does not seem to be different from a colony of USA or its allies in the west. USA is the avtar or ideal of Philippines today. Uncle Sam hovers over today’s Philippines. Philippines economy is a free-for-all for American and other multinational corporations. It is to be seen to be believed. Markets, book-stores, drug shops and food outlets are all filled with American stuff. As the newspaper reports show (August 20th) the executives of US businesses in Philippines working under the umbrella of ‘The Philippine-American Chamber of Commerce’ are a powerful lot who are not shy of even intervening publicly on behalf a local official (Rafael B.) of a leading bank of Philippines (BSP) who happened to be suspended by a statutory national commission for some wrong doing. They are quick to express “Full support for Governor Rafael B. and express concern over the one year suspension meted out by the Court of Appeals.”

According to newspaper reports, US armed forces have not only been lending a helping hand to Philippines in its fight against 'terrorism' but also lecturing cops and soldiers of Philippines on corruption! The Manila Standard carried a report (August 21st) titled “US official lectures cops, soldiers on corruption”. It quoted US deputy chief of mission Joseph Mussomeli who, while addressing members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police undergoing tactical training, said, “The battle being waged against terrorism cannot be won until the battle against complacency and the battle against corruption are won.” Naturally it draws no protest from the upholders of the sovereignty of Philippines who have resigned to the fact that Uncle Sam is within legal rights to interfere in the domestic affairs of the country.

It is, however, true that despite this open surrender to the US hegemony by the ruling elite, universities like University of Philippines (UP) in Manila remain important centers of ideological resistance to the American designs in Philippines. UP was the venue (August 18) of an important anti-US gathering of academics, students and activists on the theme “Globalization and War: Resistance and Alternatives”. The organizers had arranged for 100 seats but more than 300 people turned up. The presentations from the panelists were followed by a lively discussion in which young scholars present among audience (girls outnumbering boys) put across powerfully articulated views against American hegemony. The gathering agreed that “Neo-conservative consensus of the world is the greatest danger to the world civilization today.” UP campus is also a rightful venue to impressive-artistic graffiti and walling against USA and its lackeys.

Such protests are not confined to university seminar rooms. The peasant and workers organizations of Philippines have been on the warpath against its government’s surrender to WTO. Farmers in large numbers rallied outside the Department of Trade & Industry in Manila demanding that Government should not be secretive about its stand in the forthcoming 5th Ministerial Meeting in Cancun, Mexico. The farmer unions were apprehensive that their government had already surrendered to the dictates of the WTO and was buying time only to allow cheap agricultural products in Philippines. They depicted this surrender by symbolically lying down on the ground outside the ministry.

Globalization in Philippines like India has secured fortunes for some but has brought despair and death to large sections of populace. If in India thousands of peasants and out-of-work families have committed suicide unable to cope with the destruction of their livelihoods, so is the case in the Philippines. What is happening to the dispossessed sections in Philippines can be starkly known by reading the contents of a suicide note which was left behind by a young maid who jumped from her employers 21st floor luxury apartment in a highly posh locality of Quezon City, Manila. Young Katherine Triguero before jumping to death wrote a seven-page suicide note in  which she lamented the fact that due to poverty she was forced to abandon her school studies and work as a maid!

Lastly, it may be interesting to know what a common Filipino thinks about Indians. They are addressed as “Five-Six” and all of them assumed to be from Bombay. Actually these are Indians hailing mainly from Punjab who chose to stay in Philippines and have been traditionally involved in money-lending business; lending 5 pesos (peso is Filipino currency and equivalent to a rupee) in the morning and collecting 6 in the evening. It is a whooping rate of interest almost 7200 percent per year! Indian greed did not diminish even in Philippines. It is another great similarity between India and this country.