WASHINGTON D.C. - Cries of "makibaka!" punctured the cool Washington air as members of the left-leaning Bagong Alyansang Makabayan USA serenaded anti-war protesters camped out on the foot of Capitol Hill over the weekend.

"We felt there should be a Philippine representation here," Berna Ellorin, Bayan USA Secretary General, said. Ellorin says she is in the blacklist of 504 people from 50 countries, including expatriate Filipinos that were barred from entering the Philippines last July, when the country hosted the ASEAN ministerial meetings. It's unclear whether the blacklist is still in effect.

Protesters assailed lawmakers for continuing to fund the war in Iraq. They demanded that US President George W. Bush bring home US troops scattered from Iraq to Afghanistan to the Philippines. The US Congress has just approved another $150 billion to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We know that the Philippines is the biggest recipient of US military

aid in Asia and fourth in the world," Ellorin told The Filipino Channel's Balitang America.

She alleged that US military aid "historically translates into death squads that's why we have these extrajudicial killings, and the Philippine military's lifeline is really US military aid."

The State Department recommended slashing in half the $30 million military aid the US provided the Philippines last year. But the US Senate voted to restore the cut and maintain next year's military aid to 2006 levels. The Foreign Operations bill, which sets US foreign aid, is now in bicameral conference.

US lawmakers had tacked language in the bill expressing concern over the spate of unsolved political killings in the Philippines. The Senate version, for instance, offers additional aid if the Arroyo administration can show proof it was serious in stopping extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses.

But for Ellorin and other US-based militants, the conflict has already jumped across the Pacific. Six other members of the North America chapter of Bayan have been included in the alleged watchlist. The list contains the names of people that it alleges have links to Al-qaeda and the Taliban.

Sophie Richardson, Asia director in New York-based Human Rights Watch noted that "the Philippine government has the right and duty to protect its citizens from genuine security threats. But labeling peaceful critics as Al-Qaeda or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and exposes them as a cover for suppressing dissent."

"The debate here is what makes you a terrorist," she said. "I take the side that if you stand up for justice and human rights, and you speak out when there's something wrong with the government then that makes you a hero."

"But the government seems to think that makes you a terrorist," Ellorin concluded.

The Fil-Am activists held their concert dubbed "Never Again!" on the eve of the anti-war march organized by "Troops Out Now Coalition." The protesters had been camping out most of the week on the western foot of Capitol Hill, between Constitution and

Independence avenues.

The concert was held in part to commemorate the anniversary of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines.

Earlier, activists espousing issues from the "Jena 6" (African-American teens imprisoned as adults for mauling a white schoolmate) to Katrina hurricane victims to freeing Cuban terror suspects took turns coming up with evening programs to keep the protesters politically and culturally entertained.

Performers included East Coast and DC-based Fil-Am groups Blue Scholars, Kiwi, Koba, Deep Foundation, Kinding Sindaw, Kadena and the Anakbayan Filipino Youth. Their collective repertoire ranged from rap to folk, including of course familiar nationalist songs that are staple in Manila protest rallies.

The march itself failed to muster the large crowds that marked past anti-war marches in DC. Traffic into the nation's capital was snarled by several events, including a national book festival at The Mall, about three blocks from where the anti-war protest was being held. In a refrain commonly heard in Manila rallies, protest speakers said police were blocking buses carrying protesters, which proved unfounded.

Ellorin is now uncertain if she can still make her nearly yearly visits to family and friends in the Philippines.