ML19323B536

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Transcript of 800506 Meeting in Washington,Dc Re Discussion & Vote on Philippine Export
ML19323B536
Person / Time
Issue date: 05/06/1980
From:
NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:
References
REF-10CFR9.7 NUDOCS 8005130470
Download: ML19323B536 (18)
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{{#Wiki_filter:l o 1 1 0"-- 800513c9 3 1, ,f 1 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA .s - 2 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3 DISCUSSION AND VOTE ON 4 PHILIPPINE EXPORT 5 6 Commissioners' Con,ference Room 7 D.C. Office Nuclear Regulatory Commission 8 Tuesday, May 6, 1980 9 The meeting convened, pursuant to notice, at 2:10 10 p.m. 11 12 Present: 13 CHAIRMAN John F. Ahearne COMMISSIONER Victor Gilinsky 14 COMMISSIONER Richard F. Kennedy COMMISSIONER Joseph Hendrie 15 COMMISSIONER Peter A. Bradford 16 Also present: i 1 17 E. Hanrahan L. Bickwit 18 C. Stoiler S. Chilk 19 20 21 22 23 1 THIS DOCUMENT CONTAIMS 24 POOR QUAUTY PAGES I 25 ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

O i 2 1 gagCgggIggS 2 3 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: The Commissioners will join the 4 table. 5 The first item of business is a vote on the 6 Philippines and the scope of our procedure. 7 Peter, you are going to give a short summary of your 8 change. Is that correct? o 9 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: Yes. 10 You have my dissenting view in front of you. It 11 seems only fair that I point out that there are no changes in 12 substance from -- 13 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: From the previous disent? 14 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: From the previous dissent 15 you had a few days ago. Most of the changes did reflect the 16 f act that, instead of dealing with a majority, turns out to be 17 a plurality plus one. 18 That required some adjustments in other places. 19 I've tightened nuts and bolts. 20 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: But as far as the basic 21 substance -- { l 22 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: The framework is exactly the J 23 same as the previous one. 24 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: All right. 25 Does anyone else have any comments that they wish to ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC, I

3 1 make? 2 All right. I'll ask Len or Sam, whichever one of 3 you -- 4 MR. BICKWIT: All right. I'll be happy to. 5 What you have before you is a proposed memorandum 6 and order. The easiest way to determine whether you will 7 affirm your votes is for me to very quickly read it. It is 8 very short. 9 "For the reasons set forth in the Opinion of 10 Commissioners Kennedy and Hendrie and the Opinion of 11 Commissioner Gilinsky, the Commission has decided to adhere to 12 the policy reflected in several of its earlier export 13 licensing decisions and will only consider those health, 14 safety and environmental impacts arising from exports of 15 nuclear reactors that affect the territory of the United 16 States or the global commons. 17 "The Commission will not consider these impacts 18 when acting pon exports of components or special nuclear 19 material. The health, safety and environmental impacts from 20 individual fuel shipments or component shipments are generally 21 de minimis and the Commission has consistently taken the 22 positoin that individual fuel exports are not ' major federal 23 actions. ' 24 "The Commission has also determined that License 25 Applications XR-120 and XCOM-0013, which cover the export of a ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

e o 4 1 reactor and certain components to the Republic of the 2 Philippines meet all the applicable export licensing criteria 3 set forth in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and 4 would not create unacceptable health, safety or environmental 5 risks to U.S. territory or the global commons. The 6 Commission therefore directs the Assistant Director for 7 Export-Import & International Safeguards, Office of 8 International Programs, to issue these licenses to the 9 Westinghouse Electric Company. 10 "The Commission has also denied requests to stay its 11 decision on the Philippine license applications. 12 "As more fully stated in their separate statements, 13 Chairman Ahearne has dissented from the Commission's 14 jurisdictional determinations and has abstained from the 15 decision on the Philippine appications; Commissioner Bradford 16 has dissented on the jurisdictional issues and has voted 17 against issuance of the Philippine licenses. l 18 "It is so ordered." I 19 That is the easiest way to proceed, is simply to ask 20 whether the Commission can confirm the vote that is implicit 21 in this. l 22 (A chorus of ayes.) l 23 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: It seems to me that went a 4 1 24 bit beyond what I said in my opinion. I'll.have to open up 25 the possibility that we would consider certain limited i ALDERSoN REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

5 (~ 1 questions related to health and safety in the future. But 2 certainly I approve of the export question on the grounds set 3 forth in my opinion. 4 MR. BICKWIT: Are you voting for the order, or not? 5 The argument for voting for it, in your opinion, would be that 6 the order relates only to the instant case. 7 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I approve that, certainly, 8 in the context of the present case. 9 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: As I think the opinions speak to clearly for themselves. 11 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE,: So the extent of the order, as 12 described, do you, or do you not, vote for it? 13 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I approve this export, fo r ( 1-4 the reasons stated. The order goes beyond that. 15 I am not sure that -- 16 MR. BICKWIT: The legal force of the order 17 relates -- 18 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: That is why I said that. 19 MR. BICKWIT: Also the order does state, does 20 incorporate by reference, the opinions of the majority of the 21 Commission -- in this case, Commissioners Kennedy, Hendrie and 22 Gilinsky. 23 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I guess I misunderstood. I 24 thought we were voting on the export here about various 25 opinions supporting that decision. f i ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY,INC,

6 1 MR. BICKWIT: You are voting to issue the order. 2 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: That is what I am approving 3 here, yes. 4 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Well, the question is, we have 5 got, as you know we made c decision back on the 29th of i 6 January and we have still not formally announced it. The 7 decision on the part of the Commission was to couple the 8 announcement of that decisien with the vote on the export 9 license. That is what that order does. i 10 That is what the opinions address and I think the 11 issue -- there are really two things that have to be approved. l 1:2 Are we formally saying what the Commission's. position is as we l 13 described it in Phase I, and what is -- 14 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: What you are doing is you 15 are summarizing two different opinions. I want a sheet of 16 paper. I don't think you can do that. 17 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: That was the decision on which 18 You concurred on the part of the Commission to do that. 19 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I laid out my views on the 20 subject, I thought reasonably clearly and fairly concisely, 21 and so did two other commissioners. I think it is fairly 22 clear on what we agree on. I don't see any particular problem l 23 in voting on the proposition before us, which is whether to 24 approve the license on the basis of these opinions. 25 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: But you do not wish to agree with 4 ALDERSoN REPORT 4NG COMPANY, INC, 6 4:s w.3

7 l 1 General Counsel's attempt to summarize the position that the 2 Commission has reached? 3 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I would not like to do it 4 right here without further reflection, without looking at it 5 more carefully. l 6 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Then I guess I would have to ask 7 you on a legal basis, since we had separated those into Phase 8 I and Phase II, may we reach Phase II, which is the issue of 9 the release of the licenses without having answered Phase I? 10 MR. BICKWIT: Yes, you may. 11 I think in order to reach a decision on the license, 1 l 12 each Commissioner will have had to go through some thought 13 process to get there. 14 You can however vote the issue -- 15 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: That is not as novel as some 16 might think. 17 (Laughter) 18 MR. BICKWIT: You can, however, vote to issue the 19 license without voting on the explicit terms of the order. 20 CHAIRMAN' AHEARNE: That is what you are willing to 21 do, Vic? 22 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: Yes. I think that is fairly 23 clear. I have spelled out reas of commonicity. 24 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Let me ask the other two 25 gentlemen. ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

x l l i 8 l l 1 Dick? 2 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: I have no objection except to 3 holding this thing up any further. It has been sitting around 4 for six months. It is probably the best example I can think 5 of for why this agency ough; to be disbanded and turned into a 6 single administrator. It is an impossible way to do business 7 on any subject. 8 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Joe? 9 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: Assuming the thrust of that 10 was yes -- 11 (Laughter) 12 COMMISSIONER HEJDRIE: -- I concur. 13 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Then you have to revise the order i 14 and it will have to restrict its01f to the release and I have 15 just commented I am delighted. I abstain. I 16 MR. BICKWIT: Let me add one other possibility. 17 COMMISSIONER KENiEDY: What time is this going to be 18 done? 19 MR. BICKWIT: That is very difficult to say. 20 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Not at all. It should take 21 you fif teen minutes. I will write it myself, if I can help 22 you. 23 MR. BICKWIT: There will be no difficulty in l 24 draf ting it in 15 minutes. The question is whether it can be 25 drafted to the satisfaction of the Commission. 1 ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

9 1 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Right. 2 I wanted you to say that, because that just 3 reaffirms the speech I just made. It doesn't make any 4 difference as to what is agreed to at this table. It is 5 re-examined, rediscussed, constantly gone over again. Nothing 6 is ever decided. 7 This is a debating society and not an' organization. 8 MR. BICKWIT: One option I would like to explore 9 with the Commission is to deal with the first phase of this 10 proceeding in the order, but to deal with it in slightly 11 different terms than are dealt with. 12 CHAIRMAN AREARNE: Phase I in the order, I think you 13 have to go back and redo because it was a majority opinion. 14 One member of the majority has taken exception to the way you 15 have written it. 16 The release of the licenses, as I understand it, is 17 a function which we have. We can direct international 18 programs to now do. 19 Is that not correct? 20 MR. BICKWIT: That is correct. i 21 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: The majority of the Commission l 22 has voted to do that. It seemed to me that that could be done Z3 by an executive memo then to Mr Shay saying that the 24 Commission has-voted to release those. 25 MR. BICKWIT: And there are procedures that ought to ALDERSoN REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

10 1 be done by an order but can be done by one separate order. 2 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I would think you have the 3 authority to not do, because the majority has done that. 4 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Could you write that right 5 here so we can vote on that? 6 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: You could just delete the 7 first paragraph of the memorandum and order that was proposed, 8 as long as you took the word "also" out of the first line. 9 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: That is the most sensible 10 thing I've heard since I've been here. Thank you. 11 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE:. Can you do that? 12 MR. BICKWIT: Yes. I was thinking of a long 13 sentence, but I commend Mr. Bradford for his solution. 14 What is your solution? 15 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: Just delete the first 16 paragraph that you have there and take the word "also" out of 17 the first lin? of the second paragraph. 18 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Could you rersad it, then, 19 because I would'like to take it to a vote. 20 MR. BICKWIT: "The Commission has determined that 21 License Applications XR-120 and XCOM-0013, which cover the 22 export of a reactor and certain components to the Republic of 23 the Philippines meet all the applicable export licensing 24 criteria set forth in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as 25 amended and would not creat; tinacceptable health, safety or ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC, ems.-vmmlum.

11 1 environmental risks to U.S. territory or the global commons. 2 The Commission therefore directs the Assistant Director for 3 Export-Import & International Safeguards, Office of 4 International Programs, to issue these licenses to the 5 Westinghouse Electric Company. 6 "The Commission has also denied requests to stay its 7 decision cn the Philippine license applications. 8 "As more fully stated in their separate statements, 9 Chairman Ahearne has dissented from the Commission's to jurisdictional determinations vnd has abstained" -- 11 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: At that stage it would be just as 12 abstained, because the jurisdiction was not addressed. I 13 don ' t care. You can leave it that way. 14 Fine. Just leave it that way. 15 MR. BICKWIT: " Chairman Ahearne has dissented from 16 the Commission's jurisdictional determinations and has l'7 abstained from the decision on the Phil_ppine applications; 18 Commissioner Bradford has dissented on the jurisdictional 19 issues and has voted against issuance of the Philippine 20 licenses. 21 "It is so ordered." 22 (A chorus of ayes) 23 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I guess Peter and I would agree. 24 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: I would affirm my vote, yes. 25 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: We' owe each other a h ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

12 1 commenda, tion. A fifteen minute job has only taken us six 2 months. 3 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: This action having been 4 completed, may I now raise the_ question as to how the 5 Commission proposes as a body, rather than as a separate 6 opinion of the Commissi'oners, the Commission proposes to 7 announce -- t 8 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Its jurisdictional scope. 9 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: Its decision on the 10 jurisdictional scope. 11 Victor has some differences in the thrust of his 12 comments on the jurisdictional scope from Dick and myself, but 13 we continue, I think, to conform a majority on the essential 14 question that we, as an agency, are not required and not from 15 the practicality standpoint, ought not to attempt to make more 16 findings on health and safety matters in foreign territories. 17 As one goes below that overall thrust, then there 18 gets to be some details that are a little diffe *ent points of 19 view. 20 But it seems to me that that overall thrust is a 21 clear agreement between the three of us that it, therefore, 22 represents the decision of the Collegial Commission and that 23 there ought to be forthwith an order that says that and that 24 then concludes what we have chosen to call Phase I of these 25 proceedings, that is.the jurisdictional matter. ALDERSoN REPORTING COMPANY, INC,' y

13 1 I would hope that we could come very speedily to 2'that. 3 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Well, perhaps, Dick, if you could 4 take what the general counsel attempted to do as a summary and 5 revise it to what you think you could live with, and give it 6 to -- 7 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I tried to spell out what I 8 understood was our area of common agreement and in a brief l 9 opinion I wrote -- ~ l to CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I think general counsel made an l 11 attempt to summarize. 12 COMMISSIONER GILINSKY: I thought, as I listened to 13 i t, that it went beyond that. I thought that we didn't have 14 to assign on to that today. The question before us was 15 exports. 16 But I agree. I think we ought to sit down and write 17 this up and I think we do form a majority and there is an 18 essential core of agreement, just as you have laid it out. 19 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I think it would probably be very 20 beneficial -- and it might even be beneficial when we go up in 21 front of Mr. Binghamton to have that. 22 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: I think it would be worth 23 taking a speedy cut at. Unfortunately, time has run on and 24 Commissioner Kennedy will have to leave, I guess, practically 25 immediately. 4 ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

14 1 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Forty minutes. / 2 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: That's all right, because 3 surely it'can wait another week. After all, it has waited six 4 months. 5 My views and yours were stated in this matter 6 several months ago. They have matured, gotten richer. 7 (Laughter) 8 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Essentially they were the 9 same views that were expressed six months ago. 10 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: Listen, I've forgotten what 11 my views are. 12 (Laughter) 13 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: But I would look, then, for a 14 formal affirmation of the amended, which I think could end up 15 being rather a short paragraph and it once more has the 16 opinions appended to it, so that the individual things are 17 reflected. 18 I would hope we could affirm that very soon, when 19 Mr. Kennedy returns. 20 MR. BICKWIT: While the Commission is free to do 21 that as a matter of policy, I would say that is contained in 22 the opinions is the rationale that you want to have. 23 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: But is it absolutely essential 24 that it be put into one thing that the majority agrees to? 25 Because ; attempted to distill, out of those opinions, a i l ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY,INC, i FNXWIP661R RR M4 (K'M N

15 1 summary. You did not succeed. 2 MR. BICKWIT: I am saying it is not essential, as a 3 legal matter, to do that. 4 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I assure you it'would be of great 5 assistance. 6 COMMISSIONER HENDRIE: I think it would be very 7 desirable, because we already have trouble enunciating 8 precisely what the majority. For lack of it, we are going to 9 have trouble tomorrow afternoon in enunciating precisely what 10 the majority opinion is. 11 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Let me suggest that tomorrow 12 afternoon, however terribly important it is -- and there is ao 13 geustion about that -- it seems to be equally important that 14 this agency, this group of people sitting at this l 15 table, are supposed to be giving guidance to the staff. 16 Now, I have been hearing about that for the last l 17 three or four weeks, how it is terribly important to give 18 guidance to the staff. If we can't even articulate taat, what 19 do we expect them to do? 20 Let me point out that, in this particular area, some 21 Commissioners have found it necessary to make a severe -- what 22 shall I say? Write severe notes to the staff expressing t 23 concern about their misunderstanding. 24 Now, the misunderstanding arises on this side of the 25 table, not over there. They are trying their very best to do ALDERSON REPORTING COMPAPY, INC, l U

l 16 1 what a group of people are unable to articulate for them. 2 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: I would like to also point out 3 that in order -- for example, myself, to vote in future cases 4 rather than abstaining so I will be able to understand the 5 standard the.t we are applying, it would help to have the 6 majority of the Commission be aware of that. 7 So I would urge you to plan if you could, in { l 8 conjunction with the majority, try to reach -- and it may end 9 up being one sentence -- to reach an agreement. 10 I guess you ought to aim at a target, having that i 11 available, so that when Mr. Kennedy returns we can take it up 12 them. 13 MR. BICKWIT: Fine. i ( l 14 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: Did we finish that topic? All ~ 15 right. l 16 COMMISSIONER BRADFORD: I take it the individual 17 opinions are by now distributed. 18 MR. BICKWIT: I believe not. 19 COMMISSIONER KENNEDY: Are they not going to be 20 distributed with this license order? 21 .It is my understanding that they are. { 22 MR. BICKWIT: They are. The answer is yes, they 23 have not been and the answer is yes, they are to be. 24 COMMISSICNER KENNEDY: All right. Fine. 25 CHAIRMAN AHEARNE: That completes the Philippine ALDERSoN REPORTING COMPANY, INC,

17 1 section of this afternoon's meeting. We will wait for 2 approximately five minutes before starting the next section, 3 in case there are some who only came for the Philippines and 4 who do not wish to stay for this systematic evaluation 5 program. 6 (Thereupon, at 2:27 p.m. the Commission proceeded to 7 the discussion of other business.) 8 9 10 11 12 13 ( 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 24 25 ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY,l' C, N

~ g. n This is to certify that the attached proceedings before the NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION in the matter of: Discussion and Vote on Phillippine Export - Date of Proceeding: May 6, 1980 Docket Number: Place of Proceeding: Washington, D. C. were held as herein appears, and that this is the original transcript thereof for the file of the Commission. !!arilyn Shockey Official Reporter (Typed) e d ( Official Repo#rter (Signature) l l r l

Y.R. &.. ?fp@7pid by u C YS i March 14,1980 SECY-80-142 COMMISSIONER ACTION For: The Comissioners From: James R. Shea, Director j Office of International Programs { Thru: Executive Director for Operations

Subject:

PROPOSED LICENSES TO EXPORT A REACTOR AND ASSOCIATED l COMPONENTS TO THE PHILIPPINES (XR-120, XCOM-0013) Purcose: Commission review of proposed issuance of subject licerises to Westinghouse Electric Corporation. Discussion: In November 1976, Westinghouse filed an application for a license to export a nuclear power reactor to the Philippines. This pressurized water nuclear steam supply system would be incorporated into an electric power generation facility to be owned and operated by the Philippine National Power Corporation. The reactor, with a design power level of 620 megawatts (electric), would be located at a facility under construction at Napot Point, (Morong), Bataan Peninsula, 45 miles west of Manila on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The export is valued at approximately 118 million dollars. A favorable Executive Branch judgment on XR-120 was originally submitted to the Commission by memorandum dated December 12, 1977. We were subsequently requested by the Executive Branch to defer action on XR-120 pending further Executive Branch review and provision of additional infonnation. On September 28, 1979, NRC received the final favorable Executive Branch judgment on the reactor export application. This was fo marded to the Comission in SECY-79-557. The Comission also has under review a proposed export by Westinghouse of components (XCOM-0013) intended for use (seeSECY-79-100 covered by XCOM-0 XR-120, only one DUPLICATE DOCUMENT e, i the discussion an the reactor. Entire document previously entered into system under: ANO d B S hechter, IP (49-28155) R. Peterson, IP (49-28155) No. of pages-Lee, IP (49-28155) l s __-m -- M g

sh. 2 Discussion: Shipments of equipment and components are scheduled to begin (Continued) as soon as possible upon issuance of the license and are expected to continue until 1985 (this includes a two-year warranty period). Initial fueling of this reactor would be scheduled for 1981. The fuel utilizes low enriched uranium provided under the terms of a long-term fixed comitment contract between the National Power Corporation and the U.S. Department of Energy. Export license application XSNM-1471 for the initial core and three reloads was filed by Westinghouse on February 27, 1979. ~ Executive Branch views on XSNM-1471 were received on October 18, 1979(seeSECY-79-166). IP will send a separate paper to the Comission on XSNM-1471. Applications XR-120 and XCOM-0013 were consolidated in the proceedings on procedural and jurisdictional issues called for by the Comission Order of October 19, 1979, in response to a Petition for 1. eave to Intervene and Request for Hearing on issues related to the Philippine Nuclear Power Plant. The i NRC Staff response to the Comission Order was filed on -November 19, 1979. At its January 29, 1980, meeting the Comission decided that the Comission would consider health, safety and environmental effects of exported facilities only on U.S. territory and the global commons and by order dated February 8,1980, requested views on (1) the health, safety or environmental effects the proposed exports would have on the . global commons or U.S. territory, and (2) the relationship of i these effects to the comrran defense and security of the United States. The staff filed a submission in response on i February 29. In response to our request for views on the proposed exports, the Executive Branch has (1) detcrmined that the proposed exports meet the criteria of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and that issuance of the proposed licenses would not be inimical to the comon defense and security of the United States; (2) confirmed that the equipment and meterial will be subject to the terms and conditions of the US-Philippine l . Agreement for Cooperation; and (3) noted that the Philippines has adhered to the provisions of its Agreement for Cooperation .with the United States. It is IP's view that the five applicable criteria in Section 127 of the Atomic Energy Act have been met for the proposed facility export (XR-120). Specifically: t

lS T Philippine Movement for .. e ) Environmental Protectnion WAsillN6 TON DC OFFICE 2721 Connecticut Ave. NW RECET c.9 USN K Washington D.C. 20008 l January 27,1980 '80 J/W 3t. R1 :16 James Shea Director amW W INTERNAT10 eAL Office of International Programs PROGRAMS Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1717 H St. NW Washington D.C. 20555

Dear Mr. Shea,

As head of the NRC office which is currently precesssing the license application of Westinghouse to export a nuc= lear reactor to the Philippines, we want to bring to your atttention an unfortunate and alarming development:

1. In 1978, we brought to your attention the presummed death of an energy activist, Ernesto Nazareno, who wass picked up by the Philippine military last June 1978 anda was never seen again.
2. Recently, Diosdado Dimaano, another energy actiwist residing in the Bataan site of the Philippine reeactor, was killed by the Philippine military. This sensseless killing has forced at least five other energy ac:tivists in the area to join the New Peoples' Army (NPA).,., the military arm of the Conmunist Party of the Philipppines.

We think that this development affects the nuclear ; project in many ways like human rights, among others. Of partic:ular interest to the NRC are the ramifications of this incidient to the ohysical security of the nuclear plant. The southern portion of the Philippines is presentYry in a state of civil war. Furthermore, the NPA have also growan stronger through the years. They are now found in more than half of the provinces of the Philippines. (For more specific info:=mation, kindly see the attached article from Mother Jones, Dember 1979.) Reports from Manila claim that the NPA : s particularly : strong in the province of Zambales, which is near the reactor si : e. I can confirm this from my own experience when I was still wcrrking for the Philippine gover:unent. People did not want to leasse upland areas in Zambales because they knew that these areas arae one of i the strongholds of the NPA. The point is that continued repression in the Philf.:mpines, including those of energy activists, makes for a highly unstable environment for such a vulnerable and complicated tech =talogy like nuclear power plants, among others. One day, people w4T7 get fed

  • up with all these repressions and take things into their hands.

Now, one can say that the NRC should consider the adequacy of protection of the plant from masses of people who may eventually make the reactor a political target. In this context, the NRC may get an assurance from the Philippine government that they have adequate military forces to safeguard the reactor. j l However, what about long-term considerations? Within this longer time frame, short-term criteria which find it convenient j to seperate human ' rights problems and direct physical security j considerations can become meaningless. What if there is an j i escalation of civil war in the Philippines and the NPA obtain access to the use :of sophisticated artilery? Can the plant still be considered secure? This is not an academic problem. The recent developments in Iran and Afganistan clearly show the strong interest of the U.S. in the security of its military bases near the site of the reactor. What would happen to these interests if continued repression produces, as a backlash, strong anti-American feelings? What would be NRC's role in trying to prevent this development. ~ .as well a.s any direct threats to the plant itself? From:the above discussions, it is clear that the NRC has to consider this recent development not only in terms of its ramifications.for the physical security of the plant but should also be actively involved in getting its input about long-term problems derived from repression considered. Hoping for your urgent attention to this matter. Sincerely Yours b j be-Nicky Perlas Executive Director M. M W /y v.,a k m l&b h & & yuhth nw-d. rkA.yw.

I e MOTHER JONES Tirke BombIn ~ l - The U.S. Em ire :. ~ ____ __________ _____________ _ __l s ' With: Our Reaorter " rave Guerri:.las In 0:1e :?:1 ilia 7ines I ~ i ~' Text and photos by Lawrence T. Johnson ditor's Note: In 1957. Herbert Matthews of The economy so closely tied to a major power on the othe l New Ycrk T&nes traveled into the rugged forest side of the globe. U.S. corporations control more tha of Cuba's Sierra Maestra and brought back an 50 percent of all Philippine manufacturing firms' ew with an obscure guerrilla leader named Fidel assets.The Philippines is a source of raw materia i ). The story and pictures on the following pages the U.S., a, trove of rich tropical farmland whe

ute an equally difficult achievement. For, until American agribusiness companies, such as Del to American reporter we know of has spent time esci grow pineapples and bananas at.a 30 perce field with both of the guerrilla armies now bat-annua; profit. and a haven for U.S. investors who want
he U.S.-sponsored dictatorship in the Philip-low taxes and docile labor-strikes are banned.

This dependence, combined with the comipt, dicta-One who tried (see pages 42-44) did not make it torial rule of President Ferdinand Marcos, has forged a (tbooks tell us that the United States' relation-society where 30 percent of all children are mal-alive. nourished, real wages of unskilled laborers have de-4th the Philippines began when we took over t,he clined a shocking 31 percent since 1972 and textile 's after the 1898 war with Spain. In fact, it was j something of an American economic colony workers earn 51.76 a day. The whole structure e then-and has become even more of one today, shored up by American aid: "Only 22 percent o y U.S. economic and financial aid is reaching the needy," te being declared independent in 1946. " Col-reported the San Fnmcirco Chronicle recently. "T " Disraeli said, "do not cease to be colonies amounts to less than a penny per person per day. The ise they are independent." i ather large country in the Third World has arr rest goes for tobacco loans, for insurance for Political prisoners in the provincia.1 jail in Cotabato I There a.re more than 40 per cell: 85 of the 121 male polit-3,,3 ,r.L prisoners at this jail say they have been tortured. i u Rod lines show route of reporter Johnson's travels. Dark are where Muslim rebels a.re fighting: the New People's 27 (NPA] is active in most of the rest of the country. a.s . D GG E M 3 E R 19 7 9

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MOTHER JON ES tinental Illinois bank office in Manila, for a nuclear throughout the islands. The U.S. is scheduled to give power plant that may never be built [see " Radiation the Philippines 5300 million worth of military aid over l Roulette," MJ, August '701, for rural elecmfication the next five years. Tne vast bulk of it is targeted priced out of reach of the rural poor and for balance. toward fighting the guerrillas; even the Pentagon of payments loans conditioned on a reduction of wages acknowledges that the Philippines faces no external for the poor." military threat from anyone. He U.S. has an additional stake in the Philippines What next? Many observers of the Philippines ex-as well. The islands house a vast complex of American pect a U.S.-supported coup within the next year or military bases, occupying a half-million acres and two, replacing the shaky Marcos regime with one that i staffed by 15,000 U.S. servicemen and -women. Ex-appears more democratic and might do a more cept for Guam and the tiny Indian Ocean island of efficient job of fighting' the rebels. This couo could be Diego Garcia, the Philippine bases are the only major either a bloody one (Marcos recently arr'ested one U.S. ostposts between Hawaii and the Mediterra-group of military officers he suspected of plotting) or nean. "Cark Air Base," reports 77:e New York Tuner, could be along the lines of the shah's departure from "would be of special importance in any future Middle Iran, in which Marcos would'be allowed to leave the East war. If the United States were denied the use of country and take with him the millions of dollars he has European airports to move supplies to the Middle accumulated while in office. Philippine progressives East, officials say, the Air Force could ferry equipment believe the CIA is backing the semiunderground So-through the 'back door' from the Philippines." cial Democratic Party and that the preferred U.S. candidate for the presidency is the imprisoned Senator Benigno Aquino. Both the party and Aquino make M,"UNrAINING AN EMPRE is rarely ever cheap. We have bought ten million Malays at two left-of-center noises but are safely pro-American. dollars a head unpicked, and nobody knows In short, welcome to the next Vietnam. He plot and what it will cost to pick them," observed Thomas B. characters are all too familiar: the corrupt dictator, the Reed, the crusty Maine isolationist who, as Speaker of talk of replacing him (remember the ouster of Diem?), the House, opposed annexation of the Philippines in the increasing U.S. involvement, the spreading popu-1898. The first cost to the U.S. came the next year: lar revolt--even the iight.at-the-end-of-the-tunnel when islanders realized that their Spanish master:: had statements: "he NPA [New People's Army] is deci-merely been replaced by American ones, they rose in mated," President Marcos told an American reporter revolt. The bloody U.S. response-a three year war recently. "If I fielded one or two battalions in that area f involving.126,000 U.S. troops that left some 4,000 at any given time, I could clean [them) out." It was Ame:icans and 200,000 Filipinos dead-was America's with those "dec mated" soldiers that Mother Jones l fust experience of fighting guerrillas in Asia. correspondent Lawrence Johnson spent many weeks Today's rebels are well organized and spread recently. Hereis his report. -Adam Hochrchild g' Manila, December 16,1981--A general strike paralyzes the capital. From the Philippine countryside, the guerrilla army of the National Democratic Front advances on the city. In the southern islands of Mindanao, Basilan, Sulu, Palawan and Tawi-Tawi, the newly formed Muslim autonomous state declares its support of the guerrillas. Gevernment forces' put up limited resistance. Many soldiers and officers side openly with the rebels. President Ferdinand Marcos flees the country with his wife and family. Some American military personnel are captured at isolated radar sites on Mindanao and Cebu islands. In the United States, the government, the public and the news media are taken completely by surprise. The President blames the CIA for not providing adequate intelligence reports. The public blames the news =edia for not providing adequate coverage of the Philippines. The news media blame...

1 MOTHER JONES \\ I ' Tho Philippines is a muntry that, as Iran was,is l (C k{, i considered one of the United States' closest alliest acountry / ', f-that, as Iran was, is closely bound up with American em-l J nomic and military interests and a country whose inner I f.1 h ignored by the American press. g .n. I I" ,?' conCicts, like those of prerevolution Iran, are largely l *. I .c,, i b From December 1978 through March 1979, and again in I ' August and September 1979, armed with tape recorder and I Q_ camera. I went looking for those inner conflicts. I was also l 4 ,, 4. armed with an interest in Asia that began when I was a : J P i 1 combat soldier in the Vietnam War. I!:ter came to view that t war as wrong. Seeing friends die on the wrong side of a I ( ~ guerrilla war left me with many feelingst one of them was a l 6 .g determination to see if the same pattem was happening '.T= 2 W F.YlMl elsewherein Asia. AFdipino friendtoldmeof thestruggles i ~ L takingplaceinhiscountry. AtfirstIfoundithard tobelieve j i that such a revolution was not being reported. I wanted to g l L ~ know whether it was really happening, and the only way to .g- ; ~;.." Snd cut was to go into the guerrilla zone and see for myself. I Foreign joumalists are, to understate the matter, discour-l.* ~'--- NsC-r .__d aged by the Marcos regime, and I had been warned by i = "F.. ....M g -C 4.. %[ Filipino friends in the U.S. that I should travel as a tourist t. rather than as a joumalist. Just before leaving, I leamed j 'i. 74-L about another American journalist, a freelancer named g Frank Gould, who had attempted in 1974 to cover the warin 3 7 '- ';',.Qg; oe .e ..a ~~ M g:.;;" the Philippines. A Methodist missionary talked with him on I September 27 of that year on Mindanao, one of the isla T I w f involved in the nerce fighting of the Muslim rebellion. No ~ W ".. s A' FM.., D.-. 5 0 ' '. 6 ~ one has heard from him since. t I had come up with one lead for making contact with the I guerrillas: the name and address of a woman in Manila, i Reporter Lawrence T. Johnson Lette Guerrera.' I had been told only that she might be able I with Inerri11as f om the Moro I to help me. i Nationa1 Liberation Front. In my rdnd the lingering chauvinist baggage.vas packed for the meedng with Lette Guerrera. She would be slender, 3 T he tiger on one so1dier's is the emblem of the dark skinned, intense, beautiful and slightly mysterious. I When we met in her garden, m the bright, open. air sauna I shi rt that is typical Manila weather, I was surprised to find that l MNLF batta, lion fighting in she was all i had imagined. She was a!so, at 73, the mother of I the Cota.bato area. Pagal ten children and the grandmother of 37. the ! (the so1dier standing second. I.ette didn't waste words. She said that fnends m. United States had asked her to help me. Like others I was to l from 1 eft in front row ), meet in the Philippines, she wanted me to get the opposi-I & three-year veteran, is tion's story for one simple reason: to help conymce Amer I 01d (see p.- 44 ). icans to stop supplying Marcos with arms. l15 years The Philippinesisembroiledintwowars:awarforauton-I Rif1es at 1 eft with curved omy in 13 provinces in the southem islands, under the j banana clip

  • magazines leadership of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), l are r 1.:. 1es Sov1et A.A - 47s ;

a predominantly Muslim coalitient and a war to overthrow thegovemmentfoughtthroughouttherestof thecountryby I a.t ;ight are 3e1gian FALs the New People's Army (NPA) under the direction of the l and U. S. M - 16 s captured National Democratic Front (NDF), a coalition of Commu i Irom the Philippine arm'f. nist, labor and Christian groups. But when I asked Lette : about establishing contacts with the guemilas of either the i "Do you think I would have lived so long as I have if I l MNLF or the NPA she just laughed and shook her head. w re involved with people like that?" she asked. Later, I however, after she had asked me questions that took me all I I I

  • ne nama and one iden=fvegfeawa ofcenam persant in ais arade have l been changed.

fd fM R M f4 K R 1979 j

1 l MOTHER JONES the way back to the tenant farm in Arkansas where I was. Cathalogan, Sa:nar-- In the central Philip-born, she became quiet for a long while. pines, this island is the nation's most economically d'e- "Ibe people I introduce you to will like a journalist from pressed. Big business, inc!uding the huge Japanese Ashing the working class," she said to me, finally. "Perhaps one of industry, is taking over the livelihood of the small fishing them may be able to put you in touch with either the MNLF villages that dot its coastline. Logging and mming companies or the NPA." and corporate agribusiness are forcing out the small farmer. The island has become a major stronghold of the NPA. My contact in Catbalogan was Father Enmy, a 30-year-Cotabato City, Mindanao--neprovincial old Roman Catholic priest. He was about six feet tall, jail is near the top of what the local people call P.C. Hill. ne around 240 pounds. If he'd had horns he could have passed Philippine Constabulary (P.C.) for the area is headquar. for a carabao, the Philippines' water buffalo. Lette had said tered around the summit. The guard at the sandbagged that he would be expecting me, but her message had not checkpoint outside the jail eyed my ragged clothes and very gotten through. For two very uncomfortable hours, he and bushy beard with suspicion. Two months of low-budget, two other young priests grilled me about my reasons for almost nonstop travel had left me looking like I'd taken a coming to the Philippines. vow of poverty. Which, I decided, might work grea tly to my The priests finally loosened up, enough to tell me that 90 advantage, percent of the clergy of Samar support, in one way or "I'm a Franoscan monk," I said to the guard. "I work another, the National Democratic Front. Some have gone with prisoners ' the United States and I'd like to visit the so far as to join the NPA as organizers or fighters. m prisoners here.", _ The official position of the church has been tacit approval I was wearing a small gold cross pinned on'my shirt over of Marcos' " legally" instituted government, but there are my heart. The existence of a well-known school in central recent indications that Catholic approval has been forcefully

  • Mindanao run by another order of monks gave some cre. withdrawn. In the six years following September 21,1972, dence to my story. The Catholic majority in the Philippines the date martiallaw was declared,125 members of the clergy 1

has great respect for priests because they are well educated were arrested. Some are still in prison. This past July,50-j and play such an important role in a Catholic society. I was year-old Cardinal Jaime Sin, the architect of church policy in depending on that respect. The guard, a Catholic, barely the' Philippines, began openly urging Marcos to step down - glanced at my passport. ' from the presidency. " Hey are divided into two groups here, Brother,", he The letter from Lette, introducing me to Father Enmy, said. " Criminal and political. Which of the groups would you finally arrived with a young priest the next day. The priest like to see?" had left Manila the same day I had, but had stopped by his It really doesn't matter," I told him, trying to sound,as parish before coming to Father Timmy. Now they were casual as possible, "but perhaps the political prisoners would willing to make arrangements for me to go into the NPA l be a rewarding visit." guerrilla zone. But it would take six iveeks to set up. 6 Without another word or a look at the contents of my bag, he led me to what was virtually a dungeon (see photo, page i 38). The cells were approximately 15 by 20 feet. Here was The island. of Mindanao--While waiting very little lighting or ventilation. The guards said that the for the NPA contac:s to work out, I headed south. A tourist prisoners were never allowed outside for exercise. The pris. can travel the Philippines' northern islands unaware of the oners' skin was generally yellowish and clammy; tuberculo-fighting in the mountains and jungles, but such innocence is sis was rampant. Most of the political prisoners here had impossible in the south. De southern Philippine islands are been arrested as MNLF members or supporterst a few were clearly at war. NPA suspects. The alliances between the MNLF and the The fighting to the we:. of Davao City-between the army NPA units in the field, in many cases, were first established and the MNLF, for the most part-grows more intense. in prisons like this one. There are government checkpoints at five-or ten kilometer After leaming who the leaders were in esch cell, I let them intervals along the main road crossing the island. The war know that I was a journalist and enlisted their aid in distract. against the Moro National Liberation Front has become a ing the guards while I went into the cells and conducted war against the Muslim population in general. It is a war of interviews a sd took photographs. I repeated these proce-genocide. Many villages have been attacked merely on ar-dures at the Awang Stockade for political prisoners at a picion of supporting Moro guerrillas. Some survivors have nearby military camp and at the city jail with similar success. later proven that no one in their village had been involved in Some of the people in these detention centers for political any antigovemment activities, prisoners had been held for as long as three years. None had Whenever I was asked who I was or what I was doing. I ever been tried for a crime. He 45 political prisoners at replied that I was a priest or a Franciscan monk, observmg Awang Stockade, all male, said that they had been tortured; the work of my coreligionists in the Philippines. My contacts many exhibited the scars. The tortures reported included in Davao City had recommended this as the safest course. beatings with fists and rifle butts, having a cloth bag tied over As a warning, they repeated the story of Frank Gould's the head and a mixture of rum and water poured over tne disappearancein 1974 face-the water treatment-and having electric wires held to Frank Gould had left his mark on Mindanao. Everywhere the tongue, fingers, nipples and genitals-the shock treat. I traveled I seemed to be following his trail from years ment. One man said that they forced his head into a hole in a earlier. In Kidapawan a young priest had introduced Gould block ofice and he!d him there until he passed out. to the tribal Filipinos in the nearby mountains. l { @) R @ R M R K B R070 e

~ MOTHER JONES don't think he was particularly religious, but he had great l -j ggc- - , You'couldn*2 hdp but adrmre him," the priest said. "I courage. He wouldn't accept govemment accounts of the ! Q, 4'1 Cfi - M - M_ situation, nor would he rely on opposmon pnpaganda. He I t -- mf = 1h g-S had to document everything personally. I cas tell you, that l I @l ' ;MPM_ C+Q; l kind of joumalism isn't very popular with the Philippine J .7 4 dr y gijg gpg,m gevennent." b Talunan, a Fih,pino priest also expressed his admiration I am mm ja a_ ___n w -~ l for the young journalist: " Frank was very nervous when he ( '*s%3C 9 2M;q i , sited here. I believe it was in September of 1974. The 1

25;j~Ab -T' w-~ 7 i

vi l yga mHitary had already confiscated his travel papers and notes I _mr-= -a Ammaging m I and had advised him to return to Manila. But Frank l ___ ["Wel ming e wouldn't go. He knew more about the MNLF and the Moro ~ war than anyone else, but he had never been m the Cotabato I v guerrilla zone. No one had. And he thought it wasimportant Ii 4 MfT '"= to go in there." De priest had heard varying rumors of what [ happened to Gould after he leftTalunan, but had no certain ! / D S'~ 7 _h information. I %f lf {<,f g"4 y, -h .S Cotabato City, Mindanao--one of my j contacts led me to a large secluded house on the outskirts of g I b s.,' the city. I had been told that we were to meet someone very 1 knowledgeable about the Cotabato area. When the door I I MN r.Y. s M. 1 wasopened,Iwasstartledto seeamanintheuniformof the l -h! 't'M f; ' g Integrated National Police moving quickly into one of the t ~Y 1. } outer rooms. "Ihe old woman who opened the door led us I .M, ~.. l without a word to seats around a small t:.ble near a window. j 3 I was calculating th-time ne"my to nm from the table and g. - a n' ~ eb - leap out the window when the uniformed man retumed. On 1 - '-., k.,- a his thigh, he were a Smith and Wesson.44 magnum revolver i v. .. y, in a holster. He was cartying a tray of sliced mangoes and l g Coca-Colas. g ,w

. p "We've been watching you for days," the high-rankmg I A Moro Na. trio nal Liberation 3

officer said. "But don't worry. I am anti Marcos." Front fie1d commander. down across from me. After some mango with talk of the l As if by signal, my contact left the room and the officer sat savage fighting aroun<t the city and after gbun of Coke with I disctssion of the repressive ' nature of the Marcos govem-l ThePhilippine army is ~ ment, there was an uncomfortable pause.nrough the win-MNLF with many dow I watched a column of deuce-and-a halfs (two-and a I fighting the the tact.=Cs the U.S. used half ton army trucks] filledwithyoungCatholicboy/ soldiers I c1 from Luzon moving slowly out of the Muslim city. l in Vietnam.:: free - fire =ones, "Iwotkin theintelligencebranch,"theofficersaidfinally. I strateg ic hmri1etS, herbicides.

  • 1 work ;m the U 5 secnon. We re an information gathenng i we foot the bill.

unit. The other section is the U-2.Their only function is the i More ove r, secret kidnapping, torture and murder of subversives or l the U.S, is

scheduled to give troublem: ::s-what we call' salvaging? "

I dictator Marecs $300 million l The man was sweating despite the cool breeze from the tI in military aid over the l window. His big hands, resting on the table, c!:nched and came apart and clenched again like fat brown spiders i next five 7eg;g, I matmg. "It was a U-2 squad from the Integrated National Police I of Cotabato City that did the salvaging of Frank Gould,"he l said. Gould and his two Muslim guides were killed and i buried in a common grave in the jungle, a few miles north of I the city, according to the officer. He said he didn't know who I had directly ordered Gould's 1","ination, but, he said. l orders to kill an American would have to have come from a i high place. His information about the murders came from I I Later.1 conta=ed a priest who was conducting an inveuti-li membersof theU 2squadthathadcarriedthemout. DECEMBER 1979 43

M O T H E'R J O N E S t l [ A t gation of G uld's disappearance car th2 request of the jour- ~ s VGt/ l n= list's Parents Thoush he *== ir===*=r= of the ofecer in l killed Gould and his guides. Througgfh g gs I Cotabato City, their stories math. hat a U-2 squad had h, j ;; I that their conunon grave may also contain the bodies of s q g 5 j-lI hundreds of Cotabato-area victims of s fj; i there since martial. law was declarectiin 1972. y "We waited and worried aboast Frank for over four g V' y 7;! ( I years." said Gould's mother. Jessa Gould, of Oak Park. l I h

4.., I

~SN l Michigan," hoping against hope t wemehow .F ~ alive. Now all we want to do is shnw our country who's N Mk i responsible for his death and wharTsiind of government it is 1 -= I that we're sending millions of domars of military aid to. i M l Den, maybe, our son's death won'cseem such a waste." O - q , ~.= g l 4F g. I A ' free -fire

  • zone-- W! hen Pagal, a 15-year-l old MNI.F guerrilla, spoke, his I!ps trembled and his gold

,Jr.Yh i i color in the eyes of the dead. Otherg;uerrillas had given me g teeth shone dully in the carly mornmg; light. like the flecks of ...* q g % E l very political reasons for joining ther rebels; Page.l's reason y g V g was very personal. } "When I was 12, the army raidecir.my village, arrested all i I l the men and raped many of the warnen." s some hesitation, and after some prmdding from me, he j W ~. j T l added that among the men arrestedt was his uncle, whose ' j;Q I battered, lifeless body was foundlaterrat the side of the road. I I d .,s Among those raped was his 14. year.cald sister, who died of, f i g nternalhemorrhaging. g ( 3, y '1..

  • '{

,e t i He had joined the MNI.E immedikuely. Now, after three k - y I I years with the guenillas, he had ber.:n through two major k l campaigns and had been woundedd once in the leg by, j f i N'.-- Ir)) t ] i g shrapnel. 1 I An artillery sporter plane passed ovwr us, heading for the 1 g

  • W [t t jungle three kilometers to the north.where other units of the s

l MNLF had been chewing up armyt. units for the past two wemmei .~ 5 j g weeks. The squad of 15 guerrillas witeo were holding me or After me* the deluIe* Phil - I pr tecting me-I was never quite surre which-crowded in-I l side the bamboo hut to avoid being;sceen. t 1ppine President Ferdinand opponunity to end our interview. moned to the other side of ' Marcos presides over an a the hut. He wouldn't talk to me the re::st of the time I wasin inereasing1y shaky dictator- . ! *.g"' He mba d and maybe a IEtle angry," explained ship. Marcos closed down the l Bhen. one of the guerrillas who were.= acting as myinterpret Philippine Congress seven i ers "becauseitis against Muslimcusa:nmie :peakofperson-I al sufferings and humiliations we havec endured at the hands years ago and routinely I im- ! ofourenemies." prisons or kills political Later that day, my third day in thee guerrilla camp, I was omvanents. His 2owerful wife, I t Id that a meeting had been set upwvith the leaders of the I MNLF for central Mindanao. Just afta:r dark we crossed the ImeIda gives sueeches. on j stream that separated our camp from:r.:he chick jungte. After nutriti.on, but recently ha'd I walking only a few hundred yards through the tangled l ~ be talked out of a 2 an j f liage, we came m a c!emina nlled 'with '00 500 people. to l their bodies only faintly visible m the ad.ow of kerosenelamns 4 to build a $100 mil 1 ion ! seatered here and there on the grounci. 14-chape1 eathedral. Both have i After lengthy introductions, the Lunawato Revolutionary l Jonty of my mterviews were conducre:d in E Commine opad the madng m any qusdons. D ma-made ~illions on business 9 ~ g dea 1ings while in office. g pre ed for ine. Even though there are:=nore th'an a hundred i Philippine dialects, many people herre speak English, pri-I marily because the country was an icmerican colony frem I 1898 to 1946. D E C E QB E'R 19 M

i MOTHER JONES After initial suspicion, the guerrillas accepted me, ironic i _4 ally because of my combat service in Vietnam.They thought I _ g=ce wer== of rrn as a soldier. but more important to them was that after i ifddYkU!h " W *G@$ ^ I .m being a U.S. soldier fighting the Vietnamese. I had turned l gac l , WIN p^ ' %f. N-% around and was willing'to come and cover their story. ' h g,f e - j. fM Political Affairs Vice Chairman GhazaliGa-afarsupplied 1 1 cian, apologized for the absence of the political affairs chair-lg g.3 g ,u/ most of the answers. Ga aiar. an affable and e!oquent politi- @a .typtT ,j l g,, ~l,,jy 7 b;. s' .w f' g man and explained that he was leading the MNLF units that i l .a- <"jjp[l: - y l were battling the Philippine army less than three kilometers I j, h@ 3.j ' 11, { gg, away. During the meeting howitzer shells shook the jungle, l l and the rumble and chatter of.50-caliber machine guns, g 7 .s !.- - M-16s and AK-47s were constantly in the background. The MNLF leaders told me that the front is made up of I Q 7 ]t dM ); q N "all sectors of the population, including traditional kinship l ~ t' p<. and both Chrtstian and Muslim religious groups and the g I,, ,o i $Q!.%.';. 9 ;,, f ]f, h

  1. 1'-

Bangsa Moro Army." They said there are " invisible" gov-t f SU" Dg ernments, which closely parallel the existing official govern I ments, ope %g in each of 13 southern provinces. The l i-j

s. (1 ' ?

-1 - & }>. [ .:S5% l a gl MNIJs e a is to establish in these provinces an auton 3 =- pg;1. jf omous..:en for the Moro people. t &b / h. The name "Moro" was given to the people of the southern I Philippines by the Spanish when they began colonizing the l J ( i ~ area in the mid-sixteenth century. Their only previous con-g,- . '{ -. g* yj ~ tact with dark-skinned Islamic people had been with the I g ..N f4.! O R 8- @ Moors of North Africa. Information Chairm.m Mohaghan I Iqbal. a thin, serious young man, said, "We use 'Moro' l .M.k '. 9M ' '~ - / ~' l' n V.. ' rather than ' Muslim' or ' Islamic' to show that this is not a religious war, but is, instead, a war for a homeland for I , 3. . s "f . '. p.t.; Sources outside the MNLF estimate the number of its ! N. - SJ ' ' <' ~~ W N I s W.a. Muslim and non-Muslim alike." a W. ^ ~' ~- guerri!!as at 30.000. Al Haj Murad, the tense, dark-skinned I ~ ' military chairman, claims twice that many troops. Murad l This woman, Roni ( see u. 4 l won't name the count:ies that are aiding the MNLF militari : l IV, but other sources have named Malapia, Iraq, Pakistan, i.is a member o, the New l Syria. Saudi Arabia and, above all, Libya. I It had taken 18 hours of walking and boating through People's Army, the left-wing swampsandquicksand,withmud andwaterandleechesup li group active in to our crotches, to reach the guerrilla camp. Gomg m we had I no encounters with government troops. Going out we are i Phil1ppines 72 provinces. rebels in WestartforCotabatoCityaboutthreeintheafternoonof l Unlike the Muslim net so lucky. Ithe south, the NPA is the day following the meeting. We leave m three bancas,.I long dugout canoes-one banca of guerrillas en front, one I committed to equa1ity or,, behind.Theleaderof thissquad,CommanderDino;thetwo ! the sexes. Many of its guerrillas. Sonny and Bhen..who have been my interpreters; i 4*000 soldiers are former three other guernllas; and I are m the middle banca. On the way, we take several detours to photograph j student activists, but the bombed houses, mosques and schools. I see large tracts of I majority are peasants. land that are covered with brown, twisted, dried.up vegeta-Catho l:..cs and labor also ~ tion. The commander says that nothing has grown there : since the bombing. The people have corne down with skin l form part of the coa 1ition ~ diseases; their hair has fallen out; they've suffered fits of I behind the NPA. nausea and some have been temporanly paralyzed. At I another time. in another country perhaps. the use of chemi I ca! warfare-in this case possibly Agent Orange from U.S. l sto'ckpiles left over from Vietnam--would have been a shocking revelation. Added to the almost endLss accounts I of rape, torture and genocide-acts that amount to an I accepted method of operation for the Philippine military-l the tr.le becomes merely another dry entry in my journal, i I another fact catalogued. CECEMBER 1979 49

MOTHER JONES After dark, walking through a deserted plantation, we thm war zone, and the stewardess is triling me et her plans to hear voices. On the path coming toward us we see Bashlight tratsfer to inaernational Hights and to see the United States. beams. As we move off the path and take cover behind the i palms, Sonny, Bhen and Pagal crowd around me, shielding me until the patrolpasses. Cathalogan Samar--Having seen the MNI.F ; Later, while we are crossing a rice paddy, we hear the in action. I now wanted even more to make contact with the j clatter of metal. Since we are out in the open, there is NPA-whose soldiers are fighting over a much larger ex-l nothing to do but crouch down in the mud and water. This panse of Philijppine territory. I arrived several days early for time Sormy, Bhen, Pagal and two other guerrillas crawl over my meeting with Father Timmy. He arrived several days and huddle around me. When the patrol has gone I become late. After I veaited for ten long, nervous days, he came with aware of pain in my chest and throat and a tremendous word that the NPA would not be able to take me into their pressure in my head. I realize I hase been holding my guerrilla zone. The fighting was too intenset the govern-breath. ment, too staspicious of all foreigners in the area. And. In the bancar again, we come to a place where the river despite my argument that when the Sghting was intense was ' branches in several direedons. From the branch closest to the time for ajournalist to be in the area, the New People's our left comes the sound of paddles splashing in the water-a Army was adamnant. I had to wait until the situation cooled. boat coming toward us. The guerrillas in my banca stop At least a month, they said, pahaps longer. rowing and click their weapons off safety. The metallic clicks sound like shots on the quiet river. From the approaching banca we can now faintly see comes an answering sound of Manila..Tauzon--Several days after leaving released safeties. Commander Dino stands up in our banca, Samar, I dutmped my anger and disappointment on Lette braces himself and aims his AK-47 at the oncoming banca. Guerrera. My return flight to the U.S. was scheduled to He shouts a challenge. leave in two weeks. My financial condition and what I felt The reply is in English and is addressed to me: " Law-must be the gewernment's growing suspicion of my activities rence, what is your coconut?" It's the guerrilla called Tar-decreed that 11 be on it. But I still had not yet made the, zan. (He is the soldier sitting cross-legged in the bow of the contact that I, wanted with the NPA. boat, in the photo on the opposite page.) His command of Lette fmalhot me into their guerrilla zone 70 kilometers j English consists of the words "your" and " coconut" and the north of Martina, one week before my scheduled flight. The ! phrase "What is," used as he points to an object. zone is close to Clark Air Force Base and Subic Bay Nava! Within hours, I'm on a Philippine Airlines' flight out of Base. The peciple in the area are farmers, as are the great g---- = j..Iomemac.e Guns - .N... ls

mo rBu =.. =.. et s ;

3 al I hile the Philippine government has won international have brought tfhem to resist the government troops. Their l people, it has created over 50.000 refugees of its own on praise forits efforts on behalf of the Vietnamese boat only weapons. Besides their bolo knives, are homemade sing. t Ie round shotgums. The stocks are hand-carved; the barrels. 1 g 3 Samar Isla nd r.!one, in the last few months. Refugee sites have made from simple steel pipes. The powder charge is made j i been established by the military, but, despite rampant starva. from the heads ef matches. The bullets, too, are makeshift: 1 I tion and disease, iocal military commanders have turned nails are cut us;n.or molten lead is hardened in cold water. l down offers of aid from the Catholic Church. 'Ihese weapons

  • effective range is less than 20 meters. One g

The refugees are the result of operations conducted mainly woman joked that it might be more effective to hit the soldiers g in the northern part of Samar, where the majority of the over the head with the shotgun instead of shooting at them. I government's 7.000 troops on the island are centered. Several Many sources say that the current govemment military I operations herm!have more than just a military objective. It is l areas in the north have been designated " free-$re" zones. Hundreds of unarmed civilians have been killed. no coincidence shey,say, that the lands being evacuated in g Residents are told to evacuate the targeted area, but many northem Samarare rich in uranium, bauxite and timber. They I are too afraid of the govemment troops to follow them, as say it is also nocoincidence that the Australian government I ordered, down to the coastal towns. Instead, they flee farther and the U.S.-deminated World Bank are loaning over $75 l into the forests and mountains. When the govemment patrels million to varimus projects in the east and north of Samar g stumble on them during subsequent sweeps, these people are Island. These arreas have been the focus of the military's 3 identined as NPA. Helicopters are called in for stra6ng: then operations sinc = June. I soldiers rampage through, killing everything that moves. Some 78 yesmago, an American general Bri. Gen. Jacob I Women are commonly raped before they are put to death. As H. "Hei! Roarimg Jake" Smith, was made commander of the l was the fashion for American troops in Vietnam, government Sixth Separate iBrigade, whose task it was to suppress a r g troops cut off the ears of the dead and keep them as souvenirs. on Samar againse U.S. colonialization. The orders he gave to l From August 22 to September 6,1979. I traveled through.. his men were emplicit:"I want no prisoners. I wish you to kil! I out Samar. To avoid detection and surveillance in the coastal and bum. The rmore you kill and bum, the better you will l ' areas. I traveled only at night. In the interior, which is consid. please me....The interior of Samar must be made a howling l land). I walked from barrio to barrio. After seeing the weap. cred a liberated zone (approximately three.6fths of the is. wilderness." g Today the U.S.. trained and.6nanced troops of the Marcos l l ons of the peasa.its. I realized that 'only desperation could' governmentwomidmake"HellRoaringJake"verypleased.3 1 DECEMBER l979 4A

MOTHER JONES majority of Filipmos, ne focus of the NPA spis.mg is l !and reform. .t ~ F:rst, some history. De NPA began in December 1968, I when young militant actmsts within the Communist Pany, I wtuch had existed in the Philippines since 1930, repudiated l the old leadership for its conciliatory attitude toward the i government and established a new party. On March 29, ! People's Army,with 60 members and 35 weapons. De year l J. 1969, this new party founded its military arm, the New n,'i \\ i 4 %,g)dEk, @* following the declaration of martiallaw saw the emergence : A Msg 43 . b,- of the National Democratic Front, a coalition similar to that I .t; of Nicaragua's Sandinistas. Its primary goal, it says, is to l g '..,, W ' [/,W ~ t E establish a genuine coalition govemment to replace Marcos :. ~ and to hold " popular, free and honest elections" within a I Mii;M J year of such a takeover. I

  • 12 6 '

!ac the NPA has expanded to 41 of the Philippines' 72 l Since its formation in the centra! !.uzon province of Tar-7 .. A w 23#Ji -'[-i-i3%Q provinces. It claims a full-time armed strength of 4,000 I

_r -- --

((I ,if t the Moro rebels on Mindanao I had observed and -c m p M_ -7 G-5 come to appreciate the importance of popular support to a i c _ T-- 'E N A ;-J f ;"*., Y. $ N L (%_ sm,7 Q h guerrilla movement. On my last day in the NPA zone, two I days beforelleft the Philippines.I reahzed thatsuchpopular l "r.-g,,,. O--* r = _f,6 - waiip'*f " g c==*y e support is the difference between life and death. 3 I was talking quietly with a group of guemilas in a house in I 3-%' (~ .- -[ [~~~:E r a bamo. A young NPA woman, Rons, suddenly had to I int:rmpt her statement an the equality of the sexes enjoyed A platoon of Moro National t l within the NPA: she was called for a hurried conference with the commander of her unit. Another gue'rrilla, Omar, told I: Liberation Fron guerrillas o me to get my things ready to move out. Itravels through a rice paddy been talking upstairs, the brother of a known informer li " Don't let yourself be afraid," he said, "but while we've in a hanca, or dugout canoe. visited downstairs: he knows there are comrades here." I eight guerrillas gathered their packs and weapons and took l The s e The commander told me to wait upstairs, and the unit of so1diers are among up firing positions by the windows and doors downstairs. :3 an estimated 30,000 who are Ons left by the back door. A motorbike with a sidecar i fighting for autonomy for arrived, and Omar, armed only with a.45 caliber pistol, I hustledmeintoit.Togetherwith theciviliandriver,wewent ! 13 provinces in the Philip - d:eper into the guerrilla zone, where supposedly,it would I pines ' predominantly Mus1im be much safer. The people who live in and farm the arca call ! s outhwest e rn islands. The it a " liberated" zone, but the NPA says it isn't so yet. As we entered the nearby barrio, the people waved as if l war is fierc e ; the govern - theywantedustostop,and,aswe approachedthecenterof I ment has ch1 iterated entire the barrio, a young boy Omar knew ran in front of the j vil1 ages in this area motorbike, foremg the dn,ver to stop. Omar spoke briefly with the boy, then directed the driver back the way we had i with napalm or by satura-come. We stopped st a nearby house, and they told me to I tion hombing. run inside: Omar and the boy soon followed. The driver I gunned his motorbike away. The boy had told Omar that there were three jeeps. gI ' loaded with soldiers of the Philippine Constabulary, waiting i in ambush only 100 meters from where he had stopped the l motorbike. Omar sent a waming to the rest of the squad. He : sent a message to the barrio captain, asking him to supply I the soldiers with beer to divert their attention. He also sent I word to the barrio organizing committee, so they could plan l our exit from the barrio and my retum to Manila. 3 Later in the aftemoon, other members of the guerrilla l l squad joined us. I spent the rest of the day conducting I l interviews. holding photo sessions and moving from house : I to house to keep ahead of the govemment troops.Thanks to I DECEMBER l'979 47

c'* MOTHER JONES ~ .l the support of the barrio, anoth:r govamment ambush attempt had failed. g g But, if the NPA is so popular, the question that anses a immediately is.: Why is the Philippines entering its eighth i j year of martial law with Marcos still firmly entrenched? The leaders of the anti-Marcos groups are unanimous in their answer: U.S. support. According to the State Depamnent, from 1972 to 1979 the l I hb Philippines received S846.8 million in military and economic I aid from the United States. Tne Carter administration, de-4h 0 6 spite its talk f human rights, is currently seeking 595.7 e 5 million in military aid and $59 million in economic aid to the Philippines for fiscal year 1980. If approved, this will be the first time since 1970 that military aid from the U.S. to the Philippines has exceeded economic aid. Where the Iran-Philippines analogy breaks down is in the type of postrevolutionary govemment likely to be estab-lished. Although it is impossible to say with much certainty j what this regime would be like, current statements by revo-lutionary leaders describe a society less rigid than Iran or,in 1 a different way, Vietnam. 'lhe National Democratic Front says it wants an egalitar-ian society, to be achieved through a coalition govemment similar to that of Nicaragua. 'Ihroughout their underground organization, including their army, women and men have equal responsibilities. The NDF recognizes the rights of the Moro National Liberation Front in the areas where it is fighting for autonomy; the two guerrilla groups have friendly relations now, although, of course, that is no guarantee the same would continue after they take power. As for the Moro National Uberation Front: although the MNLF has religion as its base, the kind of govemme'nt the a group says it would establish is " Islamic socialism"--every-l thing would be decided on a democratic basis, not by religious leaders. Women have been given a share of the g ,.g., s, responsibility in the MNLF, althou;h the organization is not %, b,,. egalitarian; they are not pressed to conform to strict Muslim g g :. .p.5-rJ w, <. codes as in Iran. gilb? i 2,:: ? Manila, Luzon--At least half of the contents of Q,yl e . )'. b my luggage would have been considered " subversive mate- ?/.

9, ?;
7y, rial" by customs agents at the intemational airport: under-

~ filt-?]I ground literature, bomb fragments, photographs of guerril-y;@,

r -

8' t las, cassette tapes o.f interviews, my notebooks, my joumal. p-. i.~ iY;... i But because of my white skin and American passport, my 7,' l bags weren't even opened. ~~ [ { g As I was checking through customs, a door suddenly L Lj #.jD qT opened off to my left. and a disheveled young Filipino man .r.C ' darted out and ran toward the main exit. Just as suddeniv, 9# two guards came through the door and overtook the young l- {'g[ man. With a guard on either arm, he was dragged back 4 i .i, 2 y inside the roc.m. and the door was kicked shut. He had fought them every step back to the room. his face contorted. $.,~ r f-- />, walleyed from anger and fear. A few people in the crowded customs area laughed. Most ,r - .A ~ of the people acted as if it had never happened. So did I. It ( was my last memory of the Philippines. it A .!L. ..r g' Lawrence T. Joimson is a freelance reporter who has wrinen h.g y*hY'

t forthe Associated Press andfor the San Francisco Examiner and other newspapers.

DECEMBER 19 T9 43 .}}

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