6. UNDER ONE IMPERIALIST POWER

The single most valid explanation why there is yet no open war among the reactionaries despite all the bitterness of the internal contradiction among them, a contradiction so far marked by the unilateral acts of terrorism and violence by the Marcos fascist gang, is that the entire country is under the domination of one imperialist power. The country is therefore so much different from the China that was divided among several wrangling warlords supported by several contradictory imperialist powers.

All other explanations follow, like the anti-Marcos reactionaries never having had a cohesive armed force of some significant size outside of the state's armed forces; the country being small and archipelagic and not providing much space for a division into several spheres of influence, Marcos having been smart enough to confiscate the arms of the amorphous petty armed groups under reactionary politicians not reliable to him or known to be opposed to him; the officers of the reactionary armed forces having been so trained to maintain canine loyalty to whoever is commander-in-chief by any "constitutional" pretext; and so on and so forth.

Many explanations can be made but so long as they are pertinent to the question they all lead to the single explanation that U.S. imperialism is the single most important determinant force in reactionary politics in the country. Among the reactionary politicians in the country, the persistence or replacement of one clique by another clique carries with it either the expressed or tacit approval of U.S. imperialism. In the period before the fascist dictatorship, presidential elections were decided by the campaign funds and press support extended by the U.S. imperialists and their big comprador-landlord agents; and the two major political parties had no basic difference except as to which party had the clique of candidates that best served U.S. imperialist and local reactionary interests and at the same time best pretended to stand for the interests of the people.

Under the present circumstances, when the rule of the gun has become extremely conspicuous, the strategic control and influence of U.S. imperialism over the reactionary armed forces immediately and directly comes into focus when we pose the question as to whether the anti-Marcos reactionaries have a chance in replacing or overthrowing the Marcos fascist gang. It is pertinent to recall one time when U.S. imperialism showed blatantly how much it could do with its strategic control and influence over the reactionary armed forces to help effect a change of reactionary administration. That was the time when Magsaysay opposed Quirino in 1953 and the CIA and JUSMAG gave direct orders to AFP battalion commanders to support the former.

From the viewpoint of U.S. imperialism, an open war among its own local minions is as impermissible as it would have the net effect of disturbing whatever "stability" and advantages it has gained in the country under the fascist dictatorship. It is therefore difficult to expect that U.S. imperialism would deliver the arms for an anti-Marcos but still pro-U.S. group to build an army against the Marcos fascist gang. If it would become necessary to replace Marcos by armed force, because he refuses to budge from power despite his notoriety and abuses, becoming more of a liability than an asset, it would suffice for U.S. imperialism to instigate another coup d'etat.

It has never been the practice of U.S. imperialism to allow the distribution of arms to the people in a country like the Philippines where the reactionary armed forces are still securely under its control and influence. Before the folly of Bataan in World War II, the U.S. colonialists refused to distribute arms to the people to prepare for the Japanese invasion. It was only towards the end of the war when they were already making massive troop landings in the country that they gave arms to the USAFFE guerrillas in great quantity. As soon as the country was reconquered, U.S. imperialism and its lackeys used all kinds of methods to seize what in their view were loose firearms.

It is in this light that we must see the oft-repeated threat of the anti-Marcos reactionaries to launch a coup d'etat. Raul Manglapus who is well associated with the old crop of C.I.A. agents that put Magsaysay into the presidency in 1953 is today the most outstanding spokesman of the anti-Marcos reactionaries. He is under the care of the U.S. State Department and it is obvious that he is some kind of a horse in reserve. However, he is not necessarily the principal horse in reserve. It happens that unlike Aquino who is in prison or Macapagal who prefers to wait in the shadows, he is in a position among the anti-Marcos reactionaries to openly issue propaganda against the Marcos fascist gang.

The fascist dictator Marcos is aware that the length of his political life, including his personal safety, depends on U.S. imperialism. Thus he does everything to satisfy his imperialist master. At the same time, he is aware that his master is benefiting from his indefinite rule as well as from the blackmail value of keeping horses in reserve. Thus, he does everything to maintain his own hold on the reactionary armed forces by keeping his kinsmen and other favorites in the most strategic commands, by pushing out of service those whom he considers unreliable, by bribing officers in general with promotions in rank and increases of salary and allowances upon the expansion of military personnel, by providing them with opportunities for graft and corruption, including outright blackmail and extortion, and by superimposing on the regular intelligence agencies an intelligence network of his own.

Marcos' plans and tactics in prolonging his retention of power are clear. He is out to stagger such possible events as the election of local executives, the setting up of one big political party and possibly one another or several small parties all under his control, his appointment of a "legislative advisory council," the convening of the "interim national assembly," his retention as prime minister, and so on and so forth. It is Marcos' wish to stay in power for so long that after some time all his political rivals would capitulate to him in consideration of their own selfish interests. After all, Marcos and his political rivals can easily agree on the essentials of the Marcos constitution and other fascist acts which serve U.S. imperialism and the local reactionary classes.

But then Marcos cannot decide history all by himself. The political and economic crisis is worsening. The people hate his fascist regime more than his pre-fascist regime and the revolutionary movement is steadily growing and advancing. Though it is his wish to lay out his own kind of "normalization" only to retain power for himself, U.S. imperialism itself after some time might shift from letting him rule indefinitely to replacing him under some kind of "normalization" to which he must agree to else suffer the consequences of a coup d'etat. In many cases elsewhere in the world, puppets of U.S. imperialism have found themselves the scapegoats of their masters.

The fascist dictatorship has so far served U.S. imperialism well. It has been used to preserve and enlarge U.S. economic privilege and interests in the Philippines despite the termination of the Parity Amendment and the Laurel-Langley Agreement. In unleashing a reign of terror against the people, Marcos boasts of having created a political "stability" for the U.S. and other foreign monopoly capitalists to expand their investments and make bigger profits. But then it is also clear that he has failed to crush the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army. Under conditions of fascist martial rule, these revolutionary organizations have struck deep roots in every region and have enjoyed more than ever a high prestige among the people. The revolutionary movement is steadily gaining ground throughout the country.

Under the infamous "Nixon Doctrine," U.S. imperialism impliedly admits that it can no longer hold out in mainland Asia by involving its manpower in a land war and so in this context it expresses a policy that it would rather provide its puppets with war materiel and a nuclear umbrella and have "Asians fight Asians" rather than commit its own manpower. At any rate, under this doctrine, it is stressed repeatedly that U.S. imperialism shall remain a "Pacific power." It is clear that U.S. imperialism has to hold on tightly to the Philippines so as to remain a "Pacific power" and so as to have a base from where to exert influence throughout Asia. As the U.S. "first line of defense" (Indochina, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan, especially Okinawa) declines, the "second line of defense" (Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand) gains in importance to U.S. imperialism. U.S. investments and military bases in the Philippines play the key role in this "second line."

U.S. investments in Asia are most concentrated in the Philippines and continue to expand in the Philippines. According to conservative 1972 estimates, which do not fully take into account the current market value of all U.S. assets in the country, U.S. direct investments alone amount to three billion dollars. These comprising eighty per cent of foreign investments in the country, are strategically located and enjoy a high rate of profit.

To protect these against the people, U.S. imperialism does not only keep firm control over Philippine politics and the local reactionary armed forces but also under unequal military treaties, maintains as its ultimate weapon its own military personnel and military installations on Philippine soil. Several tens of thousands of troops are stationed here as a token force and can be increased anytime. The military installations include huge air and naval bases and radio and radar stations; there are also U.S. military reservations which can be reactivated at the whim of U.S. imperialism. Clark Air Base and the Subic Naval Base are the largest U.S. military bases in Asia. Nuclear weapons are positioned in these two bases as well as in Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte and in the so-called weather station in Bukidnon.

Under these circumstances, we are certain that U.S. imperialism is even more sensitive to the development of our people's war in the Philippines than it has ever been to the people's war in Vietnam or elsewhere in Asia. The stakes are bigger in the Philippines. So, we can expect that U.S. imperialism, despite its own pious words about "withdrawing" from Asia, will commit its own aggressor troops against the Filipino people in the event that the local reactionary armed forces would no longer suffice.

Whoever holds power in Malacanang, so long as he is a mere placeman of U.S. imperialism and the local reactionary classes shall work against the national-democratic interests of the people and shall earn the people's wrath. The crisis of U.S. imperialism and world capitalism and the political and economic crisis in the country will grow worse. Our people's war will develop irresistibly under these conditions. A time is likely to come when the local reactionaries shall become so incapable of fighting us that U.S. aggressor troops will have to step in. On this expectation, we should be prepared that our revolutionary war which has started out as a civil war shall become a national war against a barefaced foreign aggression. It is no mere coincidence that a U.S. ambassador like William Sullivan, the butcher of Indochina, and other U.S. officials who are veterans of the U.S. war of aggression in Vietnam are being assigned to the Philippines.

Since the resumption of our people's war, U.S. military and police advisers on "counterinsurgency" have been increasing and participating in training and military operations against the people. The sale and free grant of military materiel to the local reactionary armed forces have been stepped up. U.S. aircraft flown by U.S. pilots have been involved in reconnaissance and bombing operations against us. U.S. "green beret" reconnaissance teams have deployed under the cover of "civic action" in various parts of the countryside. A.I.D., Peace Corps and other ostensibly U.S. civilian personnel have been used for intelligence purposes by the U.S. "country team" composed of the U.S. ambassador, the C.I.A. station chief, JUSMAG chief, A.I.D. director and U.S.I.A. head.

The ceaseless and increasing U.S. military assistance and the possible aggression of U.S. imperialism are two factors that can make for a prolongation of our people's war. It is possible that upon the start of U.S. aggression we shall have to make adjustments in our strategy and tactics, whatever level shall have been previously reached by us in our people's war. As part of our preparedness against U.S. aggression even now, we should expose and oppose every kind of U.S. intervention in our country. In this regard, we must seek right away the support of the American people and the peoples of the rest of the world.

In the face of U.S. imperialism, we are in dire need of international support. The support of those abroad who are in sympathy with our just revolutionary causes is indispensable to our victory. Through we stand firmly for self-reliance, we do not mean to say that this stands for reducing foreign support and assistance to zero. As a matter of fact, as the revolutionary armed struggle progresses, the volume of foreign assistance may increase though it may decrease in proportion to our total war effort. It has been demonstrated in the Vietnam War that as the level of armed struggle rose, the volume of international assistance grew. That is because U.S. imperialism heavily supported its puppets and unleashed the largest and longest war of aggression after World War II.