September 16, 1991, the day the Filipinos Threw out the US Bases in the Philippines

Memories

September 16, 1991, the day the Filipinos Threw out the US Bases in the Philippines

Arturo P. Garcia

TWO things that stands out and I will remember twenty years ago on September 16, 1991--the day the Senate voted to close down US bases on Philippine soil: first, it rained heavily and the vote in the Philippine Senate six years after the dictatorship was overthrown changed the country's destiny and  second ,there was a crowd of 100,000 was at Liwasang Bonifacio in Manila.

I vividly remember that night when I walked from the gate into our house in the subdivision, I was so amazed that all the homes at my area were glued on the television. It was not a Miss Universe Contest or what  not or the elections but all Filipinos were glued to the Philippine Senate.

Unlike during the days of the dictator, the Filipinos who were fed up with the Couple Marcos or their spokespersons are savoring the fact that they can watch freely on television the decisive voting on the Philippine Senate about the fate of the US Bases.

More than a year ago, debates were passion high. Even the President Cory Aquino marched against the Senate to pressure the senators to vote for the retention of the US bases with Mayor Gordon of Olongapo. But she just alienated more senators in voting for the US.

As I arrived home, I was amazed when Juan Ponce Enrile, one of the only two senators in the opposition voted against extending a treaty allowing the US to maintain military bases in the Philippines, called the decision struck a blow for national sovereignty. "We collectively echoed the sentiment of the Filipino people to unshackle themselves," he said..

Fellow senator from the opposition  Senator Joseph Ejercito Estrada called the vote "our finest hour,". Estrada quoted from the sublime paralytic Apolinario Mabini and he read the Tagalog text of the hero’s manifesto  in Tagalog written during the Filipino-American War of 1899.

Bicol senator Victor Ziga , son of the feisty nationalist lady  Senator Tecla San Andres Ziga said it was "one of my proudest moments" because the Senate had been able to resist "fancy rhetoric and cheap propaganda.

Senator Agapito Aquino, brother-in-law to then President Corazon Aquino, also spoke against the treaty. He still remembered how the Americans treated his brother shabbily while he was in exile in the United States.

Another activist Senator Wigberto Tanada said the treaty had to be junked because "national freedom cannot be postponed and the dignity and honor of the Filipino people cannot continue to be trampled."

Then he made “mano to the “Grand Old Man of the Opposition", a staunch nationalist and Senator Lorenzo Tanada who was in a wheel chair watched in the sidelines at the Senate Gallery . Quoting his father on what the Philippines was expected to do when the Americans left, said, "the plan is that we will stand on our own."

Nationalist Senator then Senate President Jovito Salonga cast the last vote that sealed the nail to the coffin. it was payback time for Salonga who  was jailed by Marcos during martial law and  has to spent time in exile in the United States.  And all hell break loose in the chambers when he finally banged the gavel.

I can feel the tears of joy streaming from my cheeks. As an activist who were at anti-US bases protest since 1967, I felt a terrible joy in my gut. I remembered my lolo  who were forced to evacuate to Manila during the Filipino-American  War and my dad who were staunch nationalist. They who instilled in me the deep patriotic fervor that runs in me. I quietly said: “ this night is for you.”

I can hear the rejoicing all around the subdivision in the clapping and loud cheers all around. I was not alone in celebration. The whole nation was rejoicing!

The magnificent 12 comprised then senators Agapito Aquino, Sotero Laurel II ( son of another nationalist senator and president Jose P. Laurel Sr of Batangas), Ernesto Maceda Jr., Orlando Mercado, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., cvil rights lawyer Rene Saguisag, Jovito Salonga, Wigberto Tanada, and Victor Ziga, now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, former President Joseph Estrada, and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona III  were part of the Magnificent 12

Twenty years later, that despite the 1991 decision to close down the US bases,American soldiers are back and have stayed since the VFA was signed in 1998. Enrile and Estrada were just posturing for posterity and are real showmen opportunist at that time. They were just playing for the camera and again became pro-US later.

Today, in 2011 , US soldiers are back in Mindanao under the Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines and through military training exercises involving "as many as 6,000" soldiers.  And now,  they are planning to change the charter and legalize their stay and have permanent bases in the Philippines.

Yes,  I am here in the United States, I  still remember that day when the Filipinos stood up and threw away the US bases  and say –“the struggle for independence and sovereignty must go on!”

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