Wherever I am, the world comes after me.
It offers me its busyness. It does not believe that I do not want it.
Now I understand why the old poets of China went so far
and high into the mountains, then crept into the pale mist.
"The Old Poets of China" by Mary Oliver

The Vietnam War and Its Impact on the Philippines and Its Social Movements: Commemorating the 50th Year of Vietnam's Reunification | A Public Forum

Details
The UP Asian Center, in partnership with the UP Center for Integrative and Development Studies (CIDS), will hold the public forum "The Vietnam War and Its Impact on the Philippines and Its Social Movements: Commemorating the 50th Year of Vietnam's Reunification | A Public Forum" on 25 April 2025, 1:00 PM, PHT at the UP CIDS, Lower Ground Floor, Ang Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman. The event is free and open to the public. 

ABOUT THE FORUM

The Vietnam War lasted for 21 years from 1954 to 1975. It pitted a small underdeveloped country against the world’s most powerful military machine. More than 500,000 US troops fought in Vietnam and 58,200 were killed in action. Vietnamese casualties were more severe – 1.1 million Vietnamese fighters and 2 million civilians killed. 
War crime atrocities committed by American troops horrified the world. The war was so unpopular that about 100,000 American soldiers deserted and 50,000 fled to other countries to avoid combat. Additionally, 570,000 men were draft offenders while some 100,000 fled the US to avoid conscription. By the time the war ended in April 1975, with the liberation of Saigon, Vietnam was in ruins—cities and towns severely damaged, the economy disrupted and its countryside scarred by chemical defoliants, bombs, and land mines. 
Throughout the war, Vietnam was a global symbol of popular resistance against a superpower and its native allies. Rallies and demonstrations in support of the Vietnamese struggle took place all over the world. In the US, a massive peace movement emerged with hundreds of thousands demonstrating against American involvement in Vietnam. The Philippines was no exception to the global trend. In many ways, it was the Vietnam War and its moral compass that aided in the resurgence of a radical social movement of students, workers, and peasants in many parts of the country. Fifty years have passed since the defeat of the US and the reunification of Vietnam. Theis forum will commemorate this momentous and historical event and discuss lessons from the Vietnam War and its influence and impact on the Philippines and its social movements. 

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

WALDEN BELLO
Co-Chairperson of the Board
Focus on the Global South
NOEL CHRISTIAN A. MORATILLA, Ph.D.
Dean and Associate Professor
Asian Center, UP Diliman
ANA MARIA NEMENZO
National Coordinator / School Director
WomanHealth Philippines
H.E. LAI THAI BINH (to be confirmed)
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in the Philippines 

ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS

This forum is organized and sponsored by the Philippines-Vietnam Solidarity Committee, UP CIDS Program on Alternative Development, UP Asian Center, SANLAKAS, Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya, Asia-Europe Peoples’ Forum, Aria Progresibo, Stop the War Coalition, and the Phil-Cuba Cultural and Friendship Association. 
For inquiries, please contact us at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 891-8500 loc. 3586.
The Asian Center, University of the Philippines Diliman offers M.A. degrees in Asian Studies with four fields of specialization: Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, and West Asia. The UP Asian Center also has an M.A. program in Philippine Studies that allows students to major in Philippine society and culture, Philippine foreign relations, or Philippine development studies. It also offers a Ph.D. program in Philippine Studies in conjunction with the College of Arts and Letters and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy. For an overview of these graduate programs, click here. As an area studies institution, the Asian Center also publishes Asian Studies: Journal of Critical Perspectives on Asia, the latest issue of which can be downloaded at the journal's website.