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Port of Call |
LAST UPDATE July 12, 2005
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| site design imagesparkle.com |
| 27 October 2004 |
Subic Bay, The Philippines – Peace March for U.S. Bases Clean-up |
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| Peace Boat members show solidarity at the demonstration |
“What have these children inherited from their parents? Instincts. Looks, and Toxic Chemicals” read the banner at the demonstration organised by 12 Filipino NGOs which moved over 1500 civilians to protest in the streets of Olongapo. Marching hand in hand with local protestors were Peace Boat’s GU (Global University) students, displaying their full support and solidarity against the toxic waste that was continuously dumped in Subic Bay Naval Base for almost 100 years by the U.S. military. |
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| Myrla Baldonado at the Naval Magazine Bunker |
Upon arriving at the 47th Global Voyage’s first port of call, Peace Boat was met by social activist Myrla Baldonado from Alliance for Bases Clean-Up International (ABC) who showed participants the main disaster areas of Subic Bay, where the US military knowingly disposed of untreated chemical and nuclear waste in the surrounding rivers and sea. Baldonaldo led them to one of the secret 367 bunkers where the US once stored vast quantities of ammunition and explosives and spoke about the US denying all responsibility for environmental pollution in Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base. The US military came to Subic Bay in 1901 and were forced to leave in 1992 by a strong civilian movement to rid the local people of the foreign military occupation, which had used their land to fight the wars in both Korea and Viet Nam. |
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| People power takes to the streets |
Twenty-three eager students of the GU programme listened as she talked of the multitude of effects on health within the local communities attributed to the high percentages of toxic chemicals in the food, water and air: leukaemia, cerebral palsy, heart disease and physical deformities were just a few to be mentioned that are rife among the local children. When ABC, an NGO which now supports around 3,000 suffering families,presented their case of severe human and environmental contamination to the US Embassy they were told that it was no longer a problem for the US as their military had been out of Subic for ten years. ABC are demanding acknowledgement, compensation and a clean up campaign. Baldonado, who at the age of thirty spent two years imprisoned for her political activities, cannot comprehend that the US spends a hefty 2.8 billion dollars per year on treating it’s own domestic waste yet takes no responsibility for it’s overseas contamination. |
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| Shigero Goda explaining Peace Boat’s people to people approach |
Peace Boat, in conjunction with three local Filipino NGOs – ABC, The Philippines Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and The People’s Recovery, Empowerment and Development Assistance (PREDA) held a perfectly timed press conference on the eve of the arrival of a US vessel, coming to carry out joint military exercise under the recently signed Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). During the Press conference, Peace Boat representatives, Shigehiro Goda and Rie Sakuma, stressed the importance of NGOs coming together to discuss their fight against militarization. All delegates admitted that in order to have a US military free zone in Asia, joint action, support and cooperation is indispensable. |
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| G.U. representatives voice their united approach in the fight against US military bases in Asia |
GU students stood up in front of the crowds lining the streets of Olongapo to let their solidarity be heard. They vowed to take the Filipino spirit of determination back to Japan to help raise awareness of the dangers of US bases in order to assist in their campaign against the US militarization of the beautiful Japanese islands of Okinawa. Their day ended at the Treaty Rejection Monument, otherwise known as “The hands that freed the nation”, which commemorates the signing of the treaty which ended US military occupation of Subic Bay. Members of ABC and school children from Olongapo City High School sang their Filipino song of liberation, to the sounds of classical guitar under the gaze of a full moon as part of an emotional farewell to an extremely productive and informative day. |
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PREDA – www.preda.org
PGX (People's Global Exchange) – www.philsol.nl/org/flyers/PGX-99.htm
PESC-KSP (Philippine European Solidarity Centre) – www.philsol.nl/index.html
Related writings
The Impact of toxic waste – www.franciscansinternational.org/docs/statement.php?id=244
Subic Bay Case Study – www.american.edu/projects/mandala/TED/ice/subic.htm
Environmental impact of joint military exercise in the Philippines – www.yonip.com/main/articles/environimpacts.html
For more information
People’s Task Force for Bases Clean-up – basecln[a]gaia.psdn.org.ph
PAHRA – pahra[a]revelation.net.ph or pahra[a]info.com.ph
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