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Friday, March 29, 2024

The elephant in the room

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The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its Dialogue Partners including the Summit of Leaders will hold their meeting on April 28. Hosted by Manila which is at the cynosure of attention because it is at the forefront of challenges in the simmering South Sea territorial dispute, the Asean gathering of leaders presents a window of opportunity for the Philippines to present its case before an international forum.

But will it seize the moment with President Rodrigo Duterte coyzing up to China? Asean in previous years has put a lid on the South China Sea issue. With Beijing  exerting maximum pressure on Cambodia, Laos,and  Myanmar, the 10-nation grouping failed to come up with a meaningful joint communique stating its stand against China’s aggressive claim on nearly the entire South China Sea.  Will the the issue of the South China remain the elephant in the room Asean and Summit leaders continue to ignore.? 

But it might be different this time. The stakes are getting higher and the SCS situation is now more incendiary since China has started building military installations on man-made islands from the reefs and shoals on disputed territorial waters.  The United States, with President Donald Trump attending, has been in particular concerned about the militarization of the region and its effect on the freedom of navigation on international waters.

It has been a week of a show of strength by the US in Syria, Afghanistan and more recently against North Korea nuclear arms threat. The USS Carl Vinzons aircraft carrier was on its way to the Korean Peninsula reportedly for a preemptive military strike against Pyongyang. Fortunately for Kim Jung-Un, his launch of long-range range missiles exploded on take-off. Otherwise he and his cabal of military top brass would have been blown to smithereens by firepower from the USS Carl Vinzons and the warplanes ready to unleash the same Mother of All Bombs. MOAB, a nonnuclear bomb designed as a bunker buster, was dropped on known ISIS lairs like caves in Afghanistan.

Bombs would have rained on Pyongyang’s parade as the North Korean leadership chose the celebration of the anniversary of Kim dynasty as the day to launch its long-range ballistic missiles.

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China is feeling the heat of world opinion with the Group of 7 industrialized nations the latest to issue a statement urging Beijing to obey the ruling of the Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague rejecting the Chinese claim  of nearly the entire SCS. The G-7 is composed of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Britain, the US and Japan. The July 12, 2016 Hague court decision upheld Manila’s case against Beijing which has encroached on the West Philippine Sea.

While appearing open to reconciliation with Manila, Chinese coast guards patrolling the area near Panatag and Pag-asa islands drove away Filipino fishermen who had returned to the area. China also warned the Philippines not to  fly over Chinese air space after Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Armed Forces chief Eduardo Año took a surveillance flight to see the latest Chinese military activity in the Spratly islands.

So now we are told to stay away from our own air space? The Duterte administration should not wait for the Chinese to be already at our doorstep before it makes a move. So much for an independent Philippine foreign policy when China uses it and bilateral relations  to advance its interest in the region while it violates Philippine sovereignty. The Philippines should not be lulled into a false sense of security with gifts from China like loans, grants and financial development assistance.

The expression used to be  “beware the Greeks bearing gifts,” an allusion to the  large wooden Trojan horse which contained the enemy soldiers that opened the gates and led to the siege and downfall of the ancient city of Troy. There is always a lesson to be learned from history.  The country should now beware the Chinese bearing gifts. A Trojan horse can come in many forms.

We congratulate President Duterte for being named TIME magazine’s Most Influential Person. He should lived up to the title and stand up to China’s aggression in our territorial waters. If Digong does this, he will find himself fully supported by the Filipino people. It does not mean waging war or issuing stern statements, all Duterte has to do is say “no” to someone who’s already groping him.

Meanwhile, what’s this we hear Environment Secretary-designate Gina Lopez wants to work with the New People’s Army for a better implementation of responsible mining?

In case Gina does realize it, what she said is practically treason. The NPA, as everyone else knows, is extorting revolutionary tax from mining companies.

What Gina should do is focus on getting herself confirmed by the Commission on Appointments. Although reappointed by President Duterte after having been bypassed by the CA, she might get rejected next time she faces the bicameral committee.

This after she snapped at a BusinessWorld reporter who tried to interview her. Gina has since apologized for calling the reporter a mere employee who should not f*ck with her, Gina has since apologized. But the incident has left a lasting impression on the CA members who already have  doubts about her fitness to be DENR secretary.

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