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(Metro Manila, The Philippines)
Introduction by the Expansionist Party of the United States
[Skip intro, go directly to Manifesto text]
In the mid-1980s the Philippine Statehood USA Party claimed 7 million members but was not effective as an electoral movement. With the return of democracy after the overthrow of the Marcos regime, most Filipinos turned their thoughts away from statehood into instead making independence work. Now, 15 years, four Presidents, several attempted coups, and a failed impeachment but extralegal ouster of a President of the Republic later, some conscientious, proud Filipinos are concerned that nationalism is a phantasm, a pointless exercise that only the elite profits from at the cost of unending, grinding misery for the multitude.
They know that even if the Philippines can gradually reform economically and socially, and succeed in the cut-throat competition of today's international marketplace, that can happen only over the course of decades, and they cannot in good conscience consign the poor — over half the population — to such inhuman devastation. They want to take an American shortcut to general prosperity, secure Philippine political democracy, fight endemic corruption, defeat two guerrilla insurrections, and make the life of the impoverished multitude MUCH better in SHORT ORDER. The only way, realistically, they can see to do that is by reuniting the Philippines with the United States.
Young people weak on history won't know that the Philippines was a colony of the United States from 1898 to 1946; that nationalists and Americans fought against each other in a gruesome guerrilla war of three years' duration in which both sides committed hideous atrocities; that after that war Americans and Filipinos worked diligently and brilliantly together to create a functioning populist democracy, building schools and hospitals, roads, ports and sewage systems, and the formalistic institutions of democracy; and that after the Japanese invaded the Philippines in World War II, Filipinos and Americans fought together, brother beside brother, to force them out. But the U.S. leadership of the day could not accept the idea that a territory with millions of 'yellow' or 'brown' people — Christian tho the great majority be — could ever be part of the Nation. So the U.S. refused to put the Philippines on the course to statehood, instead consigning it to the status of an unorganized territory or "Commonwealth". In 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed the intent of the United States to elevate its Filipino son to that "separate and equal station" that the Declaration of Independence spoke of. But it takes more than 45 years to create a Spanish imperial colony into an American-style democracy, and the Philippines could not preserve its democracy after independence.
Rather, a strong man emerged to "defend" Philippine democracy by limiting it (not to say "overthrowing" it). Given the fact of twin guerrilla insurrections, one by Communists and the other by separatist Moslems on Mindanao, Ferdinand Marcos easily persuaded the Filipino people to entrust him with dictatorial powers for over a decade, during which he accumulated billions of dollars of illicit wealth at the expense of the poor. The democratic Filipino resistance, bearing ever in mind what the U.S. had taught them, kept hope alive, in part by fleeing to the United States and making valuable allies here. The leader of the opposition, Benigno Aquino, induced by promises of immunity from prosecution, returned to the Philippines — and was promptly shot dead at the AIRPORT on arrival. His widow, who had graduated from an American college, took up his cross and won the "People Power" revolution in a yellow dress.
After Cory Aquino served out her term as President, despite coup attempts, a general-turned-politician, Fidel Ramos, took the reins of government and made significant progress toward stabilizing Philippine democracy. He was succeeded by a movie star (shades of Ronald Reagan!), who was impeached (shades of Bill Clinton!) but not convicted, for having too many supporters among the Senators (sound familiar?). When the impeachment trial of Jose Estrada on charges of gross corruption (looting the nation of hundreds of millions of dollars) collapsed, Filipinos by the tens of thousands took to the streets, the Roman Catholic Church denounced the Estrada government, the military withdrew its backing from his Administration, and the Philippine Supreme Court issued an extraordinary (and extralegal) edict supposedly removing him from office. Estrada moved out of Malacañang Palace (the Philippine "White House") but announced later that he had not resigned, only taken temporary leave of office, and reserved the right to defy the Supreme Court's illegal action and resume office when his temporary disability had been cured. This is not the way a mature democracy behaves.
Meanwhile, Philippine Senate elections are scheduled for March, and Estrada has announced he may support his wife's run for Senate, while a slate of other Senate candidates on Estrada's side are also running.
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the new (but dubiously legal) acting President, was put into office by an uprising of the middle and upper classes, and is trying to reach out to the dispossessed (Estrada's strongest supporters). But the land reforms and other economic changes the nation has long and desperately needed have still not been made, and more than half the people are poor, even by Philippine standards. Given the political tumult, there seems very little likelihood that progress on such matters will be made anytime soon.
Meanwhile, two guerrilla wars rage on, despite attempts by the Arroyo Administration to make peace.
What now?
Statehooders have held their tongues too long. They now speak out to suggest, kindly, gently, that nationalism to Filipinos themselves will NEVER WORK, but their best and perhaps only hope is to subsume Filipino nationalism into Filipino-AMERICAN nationalism, whereby Filipinos become full citizens of the great United States. They know that as part of the United States, they can finally succeed in the kinds of fundamental changes in politics, economics, and society that the bulk of Filipinos need.
Until they can create their own website, the Expansionist Party is glad to host the MANIFESTO of AKSYON! (USA) Statehood Party of the Philippines on our site. (USA Statehood is a Charter Member of United States International.) Alas, the group has apparently gone out of active existence, at least for the present (at September 2005). Still, the argumentation they made is valuable, so we retain it here.
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THE BASIC DESIRE OF THE FILIPINO PEOPLE TO LIVE IN A FREE AND PROSPEROUS SOCIETY cannot be attained as long as the bondage of poverty, greed, corruption, uncertainty, and mindless pursuit of power prevails in this land, which once was and can again be the "Pearl of the Orient".
Our Constitution, patterned after the Constitution of the United States, is supposed to guarantee freedom, justice, the pursuit of happiness, and protection from lawless elements in society. The Filipino people cannot achieve these noble goals and prosperity cannot be achieved as long as we are saddled with an unstable currency.
The stability of the nation depends on the strength of its currency and our dollar reserves. We are wasting precious resources trying to sustain a national currency in an international economy.
It is not the fault of anyone, and we cast no blame on any individual or past administration, but we must all realize that even in biblical prophesy, there would eventually be one currency for one world. The time has come for us to take drastic steps so that Filipinos can be among the first in Asia to enjoy generalized prosperity and economic stability. E-commerce and E-money are rapidly being implemented worldwide, which provides us the ideal opportunity to adopt the U.S. dollar as our own currency.
ECUADOR in April 2000 enacted a law to replace its national currency with the U.S. dollar. The U.S. Government welcomed and approved that plan. In fact, the Americans immediately issued $2 billion in credits to help avert what they called a possible social explosion. More than half of our population is trapped in poverty, and the only solution is dollarization.
The Philippines is the only country that declared its independence from the United States, with U.S. approval. Why?
The United States is the most powerful nation on Earth, with the most stable and respected currency. It enjoys the highest standard of living, and has the fairest justice system in the world today. The original, basic goal of the Union of the thirteen different and initially sovereign states of America was to unite everyone to provide ample protection for civil rights, economic stability, and military security by means of a federal system of government. That government has proved itself the most effective in the history of the world. No other nation has ever achieved this success, and all the central banks of the world rest their fortunes on the American lifeblood, the dollar.
Why fight it, when you can join it! Nationalism starts from the heart, a benevolent heart that has concern for the welfare of the people at the very center of things, and wants to provide all the basic needs to the meekest of us: food, shelter, civil rights, peace, order, justice, and, most of all, equality under law, with government holding the true best interests of the people as its paramount devotion.
Where else can we find leaders who adhere to these principles? One million Filipino-Americans who now reside in the U.S.A. can’t be wrong in their decision to look for a better life. Have they lost their Filipino heritage or nationalism? Have they lost their dignity or integrity as Filipinos? No. On the contrary, they have become better Filipinos, supporting our economy through their dollar remittances. In addition, some are now considered community leaders in the U.S.A. The Governor of Hawaii is Filipino!
This Manifesto advocates that the Philippines become a State of the United States by means of a referendum of all the people. Only direct democracy can validate the free acceptance of this change – and indeed, U.S. law requires a ratifying plebiscite before any area can become a state.
Our history books show that in the matter of Philippine independence, the people were never given the chance to vote! A handful of the so-called "Nationalist" politicians were able to railroad independence through, and they were the only ones that benefited from this major change.
| How odd it is that people riding on the strongest and biggest ship on the seas should opt to jump onto a small banca amidst the towering waves of the high seas! |
Now, therefore, we hereby proclaim to the Filipino nation and the world, the reorganization and revitalization of the American statehood party with the object of making the Philippines a State of the United States, through a plebiscite to be determined by our people, and to pursue this quest with everything God has given us. As we originally intended when we sought freedom from the Spanish monarchy, we wish now permanently to secure genuine political, economic, and social democracy by the only means realistically available to us: full participation in the United States of America, to share and enjoy its protection, privileges, rights, and economic opportunities.
We believe in the American dollar, tested by time and proved to be a supremely stable currency that has helped America become the strongest country economically and politically, with a military might that enables the USA to sustain for its people the highest standard of living in the world.
We believe in the American justice system as one that can offer protection and equality for its citizens. We envy the education and advanced health care that American society provides its people, and believe that with a little help we can have all those things for our people too.
We believe that this Nation can regain its Commonwealth status and then acquire statehood by pointing out to Americans the benefits our accession to the Union will confer.
We believe that our 78 million Filipinos are the country’s premier natural resource and the backbone of its growth and richness, far beyond our undiscovered and untapped mineral resources and our fabulously valuable geographic location in Asia, which can be utilized by American business to great advantage, so that all of us can truly and genuinely benefit from it.
We ask Filipinos who wish to advance our cause to take membership and pledge their time and energy to make this happen.
Members of the Party will participate in elections at all levels of government, from town and city mayoralties and councils, to provincial governments, to the national Congress and Presidency. We will field our own candidates or endorse allied candidates of similar mind who share our aspirations and who will pursue the goal of statehood.
The goal of holding a nationwide referendum can be achieved by gathering 10 million signatures all over the country, through setting up processing centers in various strategic locations.
The fact that the U.S.A. has accepted dollarization in Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador and elsewhere sets the precedent for Stage One of our program: the adoption by the present independent Government of the Philippines of the U.S. dollar as our national currency.
We believe that all reservations the U.S. might have about statehood for the Philippines can be answered through candid discussions and the host of arguments and information that energetic members can produce on any issue raised, plus a clear demonstration that we are sincere in our ideals and highly motivated to make this work, not just for ourselves but for present-day Americans too. More – we can show that accession of the Philippines to the Union can prove mightily helpful in America’s work in the world. That our numbers will make America more secure; that our geographic location offers the U.S. an advance base for defensive operations in Asia and the Indian Ocean, and a position from which to project its power and promote its civilization. That our great supply of eager and intelligent young people can assure a healthy all-volunteer military of quality. In this campaign of information and persuasion, we will need good people to gather the data, evaluate the real feelings behind the stated objections, and speak honestly about problems -- and solutions.
We hereby establish the Aksyon! (USA) Statehood Party of the Philippines to seek legal recognition as an organization tasked to undertake the presentation, studies, and lobbying required to achieve Statehood for the Philippines.
December 11, 2000, Manila, Philippines
ELIMINATE INFLATION AND DEVALUATION THROUGH DOLLARIZATION!
STRENGHTHEN OUR CURRENCY AND ESTABLISH STABILITY, JUSTICE, FREEDOM, AND PROSPERITY!
JOIN AND SUPPORT THE AMERICAN STATEHOOD PARTY!
USA STATEHOOD
(National Movement for USA Statehood Foundation Corp.)
S&C APARTELLE
#4716 Eduque St., Makati Ave.,
Makati City, Philippines
( (632) 895-5077
(632) 897-5077
(632) 671-2585
E-Mail:
american_statehood@hotmail.com
Take a poll on whether the Philippines should join the Union, at the Philippines page of our allied site, United States International.
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