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The following is an excerpt from "Resistance, Resilience, and Respect for Human Rights", a document presented to the 7th International Meeting of the International Women’s Network for Genuine Security by the PWNPS.

As a background to the discussion points to follow, allow us to quote parts of the AFFIDAVIT of MARY NANCY P. GADIAN, a commissioned officer in the reserve force (Women Auxiliary Corps) of the Philippine Navy in 1991. The affidavit was completed in support of her claims regarding corruption in the use of the VFA funds, and evoked in the process some details about the history and presence of the US military in the Philippines. As Gadian pointed out:

The continuous presence of the US troops in the country has been justified to us as part of the counter-terrorism measures of the United States and is framed outside of the Balikatan Exercises but within the Visiting Forces Agreement. But many officers of the AFP know that the interest of the United States is in the oil and natural gas exploration going on in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi and Palawan and because Mindanao is a strategic area in relation to Southeast Asia….

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