By Herman Tiu Laurel

 

            First, the historical context.

            The United States of America today is fighting to retain its hegemonic presence in Asia. This project began in earnest in the 2011 Obama announcement of the U.S. “Pivot to Asia.” Its aim is to restore its dominant presence in the Asia-Pacific by shifting 60% of its military assets to Asia. The essential strategy is the envelopment and containment of Asia’s rising superpower, China, by buttressing US military bases surrounding China.

             It must be noted that China presents no threat at all to any nation in the Asia-Pacific or to the world. China declares its economic and overall rise in development, industrial and technological power as a “peaceful rise” that benefits all nations near and far through its mutually beneficial trade, commerce and investments in global outreach programs like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), economic partnerships such as RCEP and BRICS Plus, among others.

            The U.S. “Pivot to Asia” got off to a shaky start in 2011 as the American economy and financial system struggled to lift itself out of its 2008 financial collapse known as the Great Recession, a severe downturn triggered by a housing bubble causing widespread job losses and triggering trillions of money printing while U.S. trade deficits with the world kept mounting, creating tremendous pressures on its global standing as the sole superpower.

            In the early 2010’s, U.S. military capacities were also tied down in Afghanistan and in its build-up for the Ukraine War. Notwithstanding its problems in other parts of the world, the US pivot to Asia continued by initiating the “Lawfare” against China using its proxies, particularly the Philippines, in a standoff over the Scarborough Shoal, impeaching Supreme Court Justice R. Corona to open the way for U.S. Bases return, and filing of an arbitration case vs. China.

In 2016, Donald Trump won his first presidency and prioritized tackling China posthaste in his Trade War 1.0. It led instead to an even greater trade deficit with China. In the Philippines, the Duterte presidency began announcing a “separation from America.” Trump lost in 2020 to Biden, who in turn did the precipitous US exit from Afghanistan that destroyed US global prestige and trust, but Biden did succeed in turning the Philippines back into a U.S. vassal in February 2003.

Regime Change defined.

            The best definition of regime change I found in Britannica but expanded a bit, “Regime change refers to the overthrow of a government or parts of it in a process considered illegitimate by an external force and its replacement with a new government or its parts according to the ideas or interests promoted by that force.” It stands to reason that the “external force” in the recent and past regime change projects is the U.S. in particular.

            Alexander B. Downes, Associate Professor of  Political Science and International Affairs and co-Director of the Institute for Security and Conflict Studies at George Washington University, and international relations books author, estimates that between 1816 and 2011, 120 leaders were removed through foreign-imposed regime change. Given the historical context, it is not surprising that most of these have been done by Western Powers and the U.S.A.

Regime Change vs. Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Sr.

            President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a U.S. client Philippine president who aspired to be independent, carefully balancing policies to serve U.S. geopolitical interests, such as sending an engineering battalion to the Vietnam War instead of a combat unit, but at the same time setting the stage for the removal of “parity rights” of Americans, eventual removal of U.S. military bases, and laying the foundations for food, economic and power self-sufficiency.

            To make a very long story short for this presentation, let me quote from Mike Billington of the Virginia, U.S.A. based LaRouche Movement, from his 2004 report in the Executive Intelligence Review, “Shultz and the ‘Hit Men’ Destroyed the Philippines” referencing economist John Perkins’ “Confessions of an Economic Hit Man” history of various U.S. initiated regime change operations in Latin America and the Third World:

“Enter the Economic Hit Men

This level of development—especially the capacity to free the nation from dependence on the international oil and raw materials cartels—was not to be tolerated by the international financial institutions…

“This was answered in 1982 (the year George Shultz became Secretary of State) by an IMF report which attacked Marcos’s projects, demanding debt payment instead… The opponents of Marcos were soon being wined and dined in Washington, by both the right wing (Shultz and Wolfowitz) and the left wing (Rep. Stephen Solarz, Sen. Ted Kennedy,…

            “… the plans for insurrection were unveiled publicly, as the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the home of Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brezezinski, carried out a ‘war game’ against the Philippines, based on a scenario in which President Marcos is assassinated, Soviet ‘spetsnaz’ commandos join the New People’s Army in taking over the Philippines, and the U.S. military goes into action to ‘save’ the country…

            “… General Ramos then led a military revolt against President Marcos, calling for crowds to surround the military base in the center of Manila, to create an image of “people’s power,” while the masses of the population were disenfranchised by the overthrow of their elected President. By the end of February, President Reagan had been convinced by Shultz to give up his defense of President Marcos, and endorse the military coup; Marcos and his family were sent to Hawaii….”

            The usual co-conspirators of the Americans and the Western interlopers were all over the place scurrying about for the American regime change  project: the Makati Business Club’s Ayalas opened up all its Shell gasoline stations for the huge ATOM motorcade-caravans from Luzon to Mindanao, Cardinal Sin and the “warrior nuns” held rosaries in the streets, Catholic schools rallied and Leftists faced off with police. Reminds us of what they mobilized in the anti-Sara crusade.

US: guardian of global oligarchy.

            Corazon C. Aquino took over after the regime change against Marcos and dutifully dismantled all the set-ups and programs for food self-sufficiency by imposing a fee for all irrigation water, which was free under Marcos, Sr.; the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant mothballed and electricity privatized, Meralco returned to its oligarch, tariffs on 1,000 imports removed, water utilities privatized, the Monetary Board shifted from State to private control.

            In the third year of the Aquino government, an “internal regime change” attempt was launched by Juan Ponce Enrile with Gringo Honasan’s Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM). While RAM sowed chaos here, their representatives, such as Bono Adaza, were in the U.S. pleading for U.S. support. Cory Aquino was EDSA I Saint, then US National Security Adviser Colin Powell could only order U.S. Phantom Jets’ “persuasion flights” for RAM to stand down.

            After Cory Aquino, the Americans had a puppet ensconced in the Philippine presidency, West Point graduate Fidel V. Ramos, who accelerated the private profiteering of the privatized electricity sector, signed the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) that paid for electricity private companies never produced and paved highways for US-backed insurgency group MILF, all enthusiastically supported by the US, Catholic Church and Makati business elite.

But being a crony of the U.S. did not help the Ramos presidency when the West decided Asia was growing too fast at that time and launched its 1998 financial attack on Asia’s currencies, targeting the Thai Baht and S. Korea’s debt, only China, Hong Kong and Malaysia survived intact due to capital controls. The PH Peso tumbled by half, the people suffered, paving the way for iconoclastic “Erap” Estrada’s presidency.

“Erap” Impeachment.

            In 1998, anti-US Bases, anti-Establishment and movie star senator Joseph E. Estrada won the presidential election with over 120% more votes than the next rival. In the 1991 Estrada led 12 other senators in voting to terminate the U.S. bases’ stay. As president, Estrada exercised neutrality on the issue of U.S. and China’s relations with the Philippines obtaining, loans and investments from China while maintaining normal relations with the U.S.

            Estrada was consistent in his pursuit of independent action on matters that affect Philippine security and stability, and the care for the economic welfare of the Filipino people. While the U.S. under then- President Bill Clinton continued to pressure Estrada to do its bidding, Estrada obstinately did what he believed was best for the nation. Two cases illustrate this stubborn sense of independence from America.

            In 2000, when Estrada was launching an all-out assault on the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) stronghold Camp Abubakar, US President Bill Clinton sent his Defense Secretary William Cohen with a personal letter asking Estrada to halt the attack pending negotiations for the release of an American hostage, Jeffrey Schilling, held by another Muslim terror group. Estrada refused, stating that he could not withdraw the order already given.

            Second, Estrada opposed the U.S. and its “comprador” proxy-elite electricity privatization law. This led to the conspiracy to impeach Estrada. When it failed, they staged the regime change AFP “withdrawal of support.” Jaime Zobel de Ayala danced on EDSA for Gloroia Arroyo who then got a $ 950-million ADB loan released. Today, the country suffers power costs 30% to 75% higher than the vast majority of Asian countries, killing its economy.

Corona Impeachment: A SC regime Change.

            After the Philippine Senate voted to terminate the U.S. Bases lease in September 1991 and the continuing eruption of Mt. Pinatubo covering the bases with as persistently while refocusing on accessing agreements instead of permanent bases, the U.S. withdrew from their Philippine military bases in November 1991. The Americans tore up fixtures, making sure to leave nothing behind that was usable.

            The 2011 Obama “Pivot to Asia” changed American basing needs again and the U.S. targeted the return to Subic, Clark and more bases in the Philippines. There was one obstacle, Article 18, Sec. 25 of the Philippine Constitution, stating:

“After the expiration in 1991 of the Agreement between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America concerning Military Bases, foreign military bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines except under a treaty duly concurred in by the Senate and, when the Congress so requires, ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the people in a national referendum held for that purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting State.”

Chief Justice Renato Corona was appointed to the highest Supreme Court post on May 12, 2010. He was known for being strictly according to the letter of the Constitution deciding, for example, on the Hacienda Luisita case, favoring farmers against the Aquino elite clan’s interest. He was expected to vote down any petition to bring back the U.S. bases based on Art. XVII, Sec. 25. In May 2012, Corona was impeached and conviction quickly followed resulting in his removal.

The SC “regime change” prepared the stage for the expected legal battle to return U.S. Bases to the Philippines. An unqualified but compliant and Chief Justice was installed: Lourdes Sereno circumvented the constitution by declaring EDCA base pact an “executive agreement,” thereafter she was removed. Corona was cleared of all impeachment charges posthumously, later revelations showed P 50 to P100-Million were paid to senators for the conviction.

 The 13 Philippine senators (including Bongbong Marcos), led by the late Miriam Santiago, raised forceful opposition to the EDCA “executive agreement” while the Constitution requires a treaty or a referendum. President Duterte expressed skepticism and delayed implementation but did not stop it. After Bongbong Marcos took the presidency, he swallowed his 2014 opposition and expanded the bases (a self-regime change on the issue).

Sara Impeachment.

            Vice President Sara Duterte is next in line for the presidency by succession or by election in 2028, and she is renowned for carrying on her father’s legacy of toughness and, most importantly for the Americans, independence of mind and spirit—especially on Philippine national interest and international relations, standing for the Independent Foreign Policy and neutralism—this is what the US behind the impeachment wants to stop.

            The U.S. proxy-war strategy against China and Asia is necessarily a multi-year, if not a multi-decade, plan. The “Pivot to Asia” is not going on its second decade and the U.S. is still laying the foundations for it. The U.S. succeeded in subverting in an “auto-regime change” Bongbong Marcos to “go full hog” on being a U.S. vassal, Sara stands in the way of U.S. full control of the Philippines in the future.

            The U.S. and its Filipino proxies have only one real issue against Sara, her refusal to utter any anti-China statements or reveal her neutralist perspective on geopolitical rivalries. The motley anti-Sara mobs display rage over Sara’s “silence” over the so-called West Philippine Sea issue to which she has invulnerably clarified. The anti-Sara mob resorts to cherry-picking issues to “manufacture controversy” around Sara to justify the impeachment cases against Sara.

            As in the Corona “regime change” impeachment case, anti-Sara votes in the House were bought with the “ayuda budget” of hundreds of millions for congressmen. When the Filipino people voted in the recent 2025 midterm “referendum” elections, they voted into the senate the Duterte candidates and those endorsed by the Dutertes, signifying support for Sara and admonishment of the impeachment, which the Senate dutifully heard.

            Similar to the Edralin Marcos, Sr., Erap Estrada and Corona regime change operations, the usual suspects turned out en masse to rabble-rouse against Sara—Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), USAID funded Caritas, Makati Business Club, professional and corporate legal guilds, Catholic schools and U.P. law, Leftist, etc.—none of which lifted any finger against the massive bribery in Congress on the budget diversion to fund the anti-Sara impeachment.

U.S.-proxy rule devastating Philippines.

            U.S.’s pervasive but insidious and seemingly unescapable domination of Philippine affairs is accepted by many as inevitable—but it should not be. U.S. dominion over the Philippines is a humongous parasitic predator devastating the Philippine economy and society. Although in the 1950s the Philippines enjoyed the crumbs falling from the humongous US exploitation of war in Korea and Vietnam, today it is the reverse as the U.S. sucks the lifeblood out of Filipinos.

            To  prepare the Philippines for its proxy-war, the U.S. has made the country accept a “self-embargo” on economic cooperation with the largest market in Asia, China, cutting off billions of tourist, trade and investment Dollars; spreading corruption by supporting House profligacy; convoluting national discourse with mainstream disinformation war; diverting funds to weapons buys and halting infrastructure development ad nauseum.

            The Filipino people instinctively know that the situation is not well for them, though associating it with U.S. domination is far from their awareness. They do sense that hope lies with the Duterte leadership, and they’ve given the Duterte’s win after win, including overwhelming votes in the midterm elections and outpouring of affection for former president Duterte at the Hague.

            The anti-Duterte, anti-Sara and anti-Filipino forces have nothing but institutional power brought by money, corruption and neocolonial force to suppress freedom of independent bloggers with contempt threats in the Congress, sustain massive black propaganda in mainstream and troll social media, use official security agencies to scare and oppress independent sectors, but the people and the Dutertes still win.

            The next stage of the struggle will be in the 20th Senate, where the impeachment must be defeated, where the Independent Foreign Policy and principle of neutrality must be resuscitated and re-enshrined, where the initial steps to expulsion of the U.S. military bases should be taken and where the nation can start galvanizing international support to bring President Duterte back home. All that will be achieved as we end U.S. proxy domination in the Philippines.

The U.S. and its Filipino proxies are the enemy of the Filipino nation, at the same time the U.S. is the enemy of the World in Ukraine, in Gaza, in the trade and tariff wars. The U.S., the world’s greatest regime change fiend, must be ended, and we can help the world by ending its domination here in our country.###

   

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