Protesters to hound Hillary Clinton during visit

MANILA, Philippines—US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be greeted with protests by militant groups during her short visit to Manila on Tuesday, as the date coincides with the anniversary of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippines and the United States.

The militant Anakbayan youth group has vowed to hound Clinton everywhere she goes in the country, replicating their actions during her first visit in 2009.

“It is practically a double insult for Hillary to call her visit a commemoration of mutual relations. The word ‘mutual’ does not apply to any single aspect of Philippine-US relations. The relations remain essentially the same since 1899,” said Akbayan chair Vencer Crisostomo in a statement.

According to Anakbayan, the relationship between the two countries for the past 112 years had remained “essentially that of a ‘master-to-colony.’’’

Clinton’s itinerary

Clinton will be making a brief stop in Manila on Tuesday, en route to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Indonesia after attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) meetings in Hawaii this weekend.

She is scheduled to meet with President Aquino on a host of bilateral and multilateral issues.

Last July, Malacañang cited the MDT as being crucial to US support for Asean members in their long-running dispute with China over conflicting claims in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

The US Senate has passed a resolution deploring China’s use of force against Filipino and Vietnamese fishermen in the disputed areas, and urging a peaceful resolution to the disputes.

In her 2009 visit, Clinton was followed around by protesters near the US Embassy, Malacañang, the University of Santo Tomas and an elementary school in Marikina.

US hand in Cha-cha

According to Crisostomo, the most recent instance of the “master-to-colony’’ relationship was the alleged US hand in recent attempts to amend the Constitution in order to lift the purportedly restrictive constitutional provisions on foreign ownership of land, natural resources and industries.

He claimed that in August, US Ambassador Harry Thomas pressed for Charter change (Cha-cha) to allow foreign companies to build majority stakes in Philippine companies.

He said that House Concurrent Resolution No. 10, which essentially contains Thomas’ proposal, was first discussed in Congress at around the same time.

“It has the stamp of the US all over it” said Crisostomo.

“The urgency with which they push for Cha-cha increases as the US continues to sink into its ‘Greater Depression,’” he said.