Fight for the Pacific - American policy of enslaving the Filipino people

Fight for the Pacific 

Avarin

7. American policy of enslaving the Filipino people

The Philippines, despite the fact that their "independence" was declared with great pomp on July 4, 1946, remained an American colony and an American military foothold; the American military was more firmly established in that country than ever before World War II. The yoke of colonial slavery is oppressing the Filipino people, and no puppet government can disguise this fact. Moreover, in connection with the intensification of reaction in all countries under the yoke of American imperialism, since 1946 the Filipino people found themselves under conditions of fascist terror.

At the end of the war, the American occupation administration handed over power in the Philippines to elements that had helped the Japanese generals in their time to enslave the Philippine people. In the "democratic" elections of the "national assembly" held in 1946 under the control of the American military authorities, only 3 million Filipinos were granted the right to vote. The vast majority of peasants and workers did not have the right to vote, while the elements who collaborated with the Japanese occupiers enjoyed all sorts of privileges. Only 2.4 million people took part in the elections. Shortly after the elections, representatives of democratic parties who resisted the anti-national policies of the traitor General Rojas and his government were removed from the "national assembly" and subjected to repression. Democratic parties and organizations were dispersed and terrorized with the help of American troops. The treacherous reactionary elements provided the US imperialists with dozens of military bases in the archipelago and agreed to the de facto preservation of the colonial position of the Philippines.

American capitalists were granted "equal" rights with the Filipinos for 28 years to develop the country's natural resources. American companies actually received a monopoly on the export of raw materials and food. The Philippines was deprived of true customs independence. In a word, the United States concluded an unequal treaty with the "independent" Philippine Republic, which ensures complete domination of the country's economy by the American monopolies.

In March 1947, US Representative McNutt and Rojas signed a 99-year lease by the United States of naval and air bases in the Philippines. Among these bases are the Stotsenberg fortress on the island of Luzon, the naval bases of Guiyuan, Subic, Tawi-Tawi, Cavite and over ten other points on various islands of the Philippine archipelago. The Philippines is thus tightly squeezed in the grip of American militarism and turned into one of the main US springboards for military aggression in the Far East.

The strengthening of the imperialist dominance of the American financial oligarchy in the Philippines had a heavy impact on the economy and living standards of the Filipino people. Most branches of industry and agriculture are in decline, foreign trade is sharply scarce, and the pressure of exploitation has been tightened to the limit.

The extraction of iron ore in the Philippines, which before the war reached about 1 million tons, even in 1948 was almost zero, in 1949 370 thousand g were mined and sent to Japan and in 1950 - 607 thousand tons In 1948, only 20% of pre-war production was mined in gold, in 1949 - 35%, and in 1950 - 46%; cement was produced in 1948 115 thousand g and in 1949 - 200 thousand tons against 170 thousand tons before the war. The railway network in 1919 was 900 km instead of 1,350 km before the war. Sugar production fell sharply behind pre-war levels. Only the production of coconut palm products reached the pre-war level in 1948, since the prices of coconut oil and copra were kept at a very high fivefold level. Electricity production increased significantly against the pre-war level,

Real wages in the Philippines fell significantly in the second half of 1948, and then again in the second half of 1949, which was one of the causes of a new wave of workers' uprisings.

The foreign trade deficit in 1947 reached 246 million am. dollars, in 1948 - 337 million and in 1949 - 416 million dollars. The negative balance in trade with the United States, respectively, reached large figures - 375, 260 and 318 million dollars (1950 - 7 million dollars). This was the result of the US completely monopolizing the Philippine import market and at the same time reducing the purchase of Philippine goods. The share of the United States in Philippine imports was 86% in 1947, 80% in 1948, and almost 82% in 1949 against 60% before the war. In Philippine exports, the share of the United States was 57% in 1947, 64% in 1948, and 70% in 1949 against 83% in 1938. Such a huge negative trade balance could have been allowed in these years only because American militarists, building military bases in the Philippines, made large expenditures in dollars and, in addition, paid 452 million dollars to the Filipino landlords, the bourgeoisie, as well as the American colonialists for damages incurred during the war, which was a bribe of the upper groups of the Philippine landowners and the bourgeoisie. In addition, in order to further strengthen its economic dominance, the United States provided some loans to the Philippines. In 1947, the Post-War Reconstruction Finance Corporation provided the Philippines with a loan of $60 million and, in addition, small loans (up to $20 million) were provided to them. From the end of the war until the end of 1949, the Philippine puppet government received loans and subsidies totaling US$562 million from the American government. dollars (1). By 1949, the sources of dollar resources began to dry up quickly, and therefore even the puppet government of Manila was forced to limit imports from the United States. From the beginning of 1949, import controls were introduced, licenses were issued in limited quantities for a number of goods, and from August 1, 1949, import quotas for the import of American textiles were reduced.

The economic position of the City in the Philippines, as well as in South Korea and other monopoly possessions of US imperialism, was severely undermined in the post-war years. The share of England in Philippin's foreign trade, negligible before, fell to tenths of a percent. The share of England in Philippine imports was 2.4% in 1937, 0.6 in 1947, and 0 in 1948 ,8 and in 1949 -0.8% - in the export of the Philippines, the share of England was respectively 3.7, 3.2, 1.1 and 1.3%.

(1) Economist Survey, 1949, p. 424.