MANILA, Philippines?Protests will greet us Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she visits Manila on Nov. 12-13.
Militants said they would take to the streets to ask Clinton to explain the ?indefinite? presence of American troops in the country and to clarify the status of US military aid.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary general Renato Reyes said the successive visits of top US officials, Clinton?s being the third this year, show the United States is determined to expand its presence in the country.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited the Philippines in June while Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Leon Panetta came in July.
?The unusual [and] successive visits lead us to believe the United States is determined to strengthen and expand its presence in the Philippines. [Clinton?s] trip is definitely not a goodwill or solidarity visit for typhoon victims. She?s here for US security interests, more than anything else,? Reyes said in a statement.
He said Bayan agreed with Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago?s pronouncement that Clinton?s visit was to make sure the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was not junked.
?The Clinton visit is nothing more than intervention hiding behind the cloak of humanitarianism. United States foreign policy towards countries like the Philippines has not changed at all one year after Barack Obama was elected to the White House. The unequal relations remain,? Reyes said.
For his part, Anakbayan secretary general Ken Ramos said Clinton?s real agenda was ?to ensure the abrogation of the VFA does not push through and [to continue] US domination in Philippine affairs.?
Ramos said Clinton?s visit ?signals the continuity, if not an increase, in American intervention, considering the mounting opposition to the VFA during the past two months.?
Clinton ?should realize they have no business here and any attempt to meddle in the coming polls, among others, no matter how covert, will be thwarted by people?s movements,? he said.
Malacańang on Monday said there was no pressing need to discuss the VFA during Clinton?s brief Manila stopover beginning Thursday.
The Palace was apparently content with what it called an ?internal review? of the VFA being sought by senators, who had expressed misgivings over supposedly vague provisions in the treaty.
?When you bring a matter before a bilateral talk, that matter should be a pressing issue on a bilateral sense, and I think the VFA has not reached that point of being a pressing issue on a bilateral sense,? Anthony Golez, deputy presidential spokes-person, told reporters.
Golez maintained that for the matter to merit a formal discussion between the Philippines and the United States, both parties should acknowledge mutual problems with the agreement.
Clinton will be in Manila until Friday before joining President Obama at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore.
The Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) has challenged Clinton to ?take a stand on the human rights record of the Arroyo administration.?
