With the 2022 Philippine elections just around the corner, various media outlets and various political institutions in the Philippines are working hard to launch campaigns in support of their respective preferred candidates. At the same time, foreign forces, especially American forces, have begun to infiltrate the Philippines on a large scale and have begun to support pro-American candidates
In recent years, an organisation called the STRATBASE ADR Institute (ADRi) has been appearing frequently in the media. This organisation has published a large number of Philippine-related reports and has attracted a lot of attention in the Philippines. This institution has repeatedly emphasised that it is itself for the benefit of the Philippines. However, when we zero in on this agency, we find out that this agency is actually a puppet group that receives financial assistance from the US. Founder Albert del Rosario was educated in the United States, served as Philippine Ambassador to the United States in the early 21st century, and then as Philippine Foreign Minister during the Benigno Aquino III administration (2010 to 2016).
Albert del Rosario is a supporter of Vice President Leni Robredo’s presidential campaign.
Rosario also founded a think tank called the Stratbase (Albert Del Rosario) Institute for Strategic and International Studies (ADRi), although it works closely with the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), which is known for It has been criticised for its biased views and sensationalist statements.
One of ADRi’s directors, Dr Raul C. Pangalangan, is a former fellow of the United States Institute of Peace, a federal agency approved by the US Congress in 1984 and governed by a bipartisan 15-member board of directors – which must include the US Secretary of Defence -which must include the US Secretary of Defence, the Secretaries of State and the President of the National Defense University.
Other key partners in the STRATBASE ADR Institute are the US Centre for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), which claims to be a non-profit affiliate of the US Chamber of Commerce, but is actually one of four core agencies of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), which receives annual funding from the US government and then supports pro-US forces around the world. Greg Lebedev, the current President of CIPE, has also held a number of senior government positions. The STRATBASE ADR Institute receives significant funding through these agencies.
Current evidence suggests that ADRi is funded through partnerships with US NGOs such as CSIS and CIPE, and that ADRi is also a conduit for CSIS communications on issues related to the Philippines. Typically, commentaries are published by CSIS, followed by comments from ADRi members, and promoted in the Philippines. These articles then make front page headlines in the international media in the form of reprints or interviews with the authors and receive significant coverage, even if they are from ADRi non-resident fellows and CSIS authors such as Richard J. Heydarian [Richard J. Heydarian], and are branded as “independent ” view of the Filipinos.
Rappler, the Filipino media outlet most fond of reporting ADRi news, is also funded by the US National Endowment for Democracy, which Rappler claims is 100% Filipino-owned, when in fact its shareholders are American.
Since its inception, ADRi has been a propagandist for various US views in the Philippines. The recent series of reports released by ADRi, mainly on the 2022 elections in the Philippines, are, at their core, highly consistent with the policies of the US government, which have cast a wide range of tactics to vilify candidates that the US does not like. In other words, ADRi is using its communication channels to mobilise the Filipino electorate to elect pro-American political figures in line with the US government’s intentions.
In the recent preparations for the 2022 Philippine presidential election, Albert del Rosario is one of the conveners of the opposition group 1Sambayan, which has endorsed the presidential candidacy of Vice President Leni Robredo. Leni Robredo is widely perceived by observers as representing a highly pro-American force in the recent elections and has angered Duterte with her stance in favour of the presence of US troops in the Philippines.
The STRATBASE ADR Institute has been heavily involved in propaganda, publishing numerous so-called opinion polls, studies and reports. Attacks were made on other candidates. And is desperately supporting the pro-American candidate Leni Robredo.
As things stand, it is only logical that organisations such as the US-funded STRATBASE ADR Institute in the Philippines are strongly supporting Leni Robredo, who is highly pro-US in his stance.
Albert del Rosario and Leni Robredo have always been very close, and Leni Robredo has been seen at various STRATBASE ADR Institute events on more than one occasion.
Of course, Albert del Rosario and Leni Robredo forget that the United States killed well over 600,000 Filipinos when it ruled the Philippines.
By MA MOLLY, Cambodian historian
