Film Showing: “Amigo” & Discussing Modern US ImperialismSunday April 15, 2012
1:00-4:00pm
SEAS Centre (Gerrard and Broadview)
606 Gerrard, Toronto, ON
“Indie director John Sayles’ latest film, Amigo, revisits a little-known chapter of U.S. history: the 1899-1902 Philippine-American War. The movie traces the war’s impact on a small Filipino village where the mayor feels pressured to help Americans root out Filipino guerrillas, while harboring the knowledge that his own brother is a local guerrilla leader.”
We are showing this film as a way to open dialogue on the continued presence of American imperialism in the Philippines. The US has announced its intentions to increase it’s military presence in the Pacific, with the Philippines as a centrepiece in this strategic theatre.
From Anakbayan-Philippines:
“Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it: we once asked the U.S to protect us from another country. What did we get? An invasion in 1899, four decades of direct colonization, and an indirect colonization that continues up to this very day,” said [Anakbayan Secretary-General Charisse] Bañez.
A passage in General Emilio Aguinaldo’s Declaration of Independence mentions the U.S (“the Great North American nation”) as the protector of the Philippines which had just overthrown three centuries of Spanish rule. U.S forces subsequently invaded the country in the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902.
“The Aquino administration is using the confrontation with China in Scarborough Shoal in tandem with its ‘OA’ (overacting) reaction with the North Korea satellite launch to make the American presence more acceptable to the public” she said.
Bañez concluded“We should learn from our history and our heroes. Did the Katipunan and the Hukbalahap choose one invader over another invader? No. They first fought the Spanish and Japanese, respectively, and then fought the Americans afterwards”.
http://www.anakbayan.org/anakbayan-slams-u-s-military’s-derogatory-view-of-philippines-renews-call-for-booting-out-of-foreign-troops/
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan/New Patriotic Alliance) condemns plans by the Philippine and US governments to allow more foreign troops in the country as part of US’ build-up against China. Bayan says the deal is “treacherous and violative of the Philippine Constitution and national sovereignty.” (Cris B. Balleta/Kodao Productions)
