Who said Donald Trump is the most dangerous man on the planet? The fact that millions of American voted him their next US president says they trust the man to lead the most powerful nation in the world.
That America is the most powerful nation in the world has also become dubious and subject to debate. This, after the US allowed China to continue committing aggression in the South China Sea which is escalating tension in the region. Latest satellite images showed the Chinese have installed modern missiles on the artificial islands they built in the disputed waters.
There’s nary a word from the US on this latest Chinese threat to the stability of the Southeast Asian region. Is it because China’s action does not fall under the US Monroe Doctrine that deals strongly with any threat to the US from within South America? The Monroe Doctrine was what then President John F. Kennedy invoked when challenging Russia after Nikita Khrushchev installed powerful missiles in Cuba during the Cold War crisis.
It does not help, and instead encourages China, that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stated he’s willing to set aside The Hague tribunal ruling rejecting Beijing’s claim to 90 percent of the resource- rich South China Sea.
Manila filed and won its case against Beijing and now Duterte is willing to set aside The Hague ruling? In basketball or football, that’s like the home team scoring a goal in the opponent’s court. But then, strange things have been occurring since the advent of the new administration.
This is akin to hosting an invasion with splayed legs. No wonder we don’t get any respect from countries like China. The country is being portrayed like the bar girls in Olongapo during the heydays of American sailors when Subic was used as a naval base by the US Seventh Fleet .
There’s much to be said of sovereignty and an independent foreign policy that Duterte and Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. are espousing. While we support the idea, there is the pitfall that separating from the US could lead the country to being a lackey of a rising and dominant China. Is this what Filipinos want?
The two polling outfits—Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia —should conduct a survey on this important and relevant issue. Short of holding a referendum, SWS and Pulse Asia would be doing a great public service in giving the Duterte administration a barometer of the people’s sentiments. The two polling organizations have carried out surveys on less significant issues. Why not on this key issue of choosing sides between being a stooge of Uncle Sam or the “atchoy” of the Mandarins in Beijing?
For the true outcome of the poll results, the survey must be commissioned by a non-government entity. Preferably, the private sector or the academe should be behind it. Anyone else (particularly the government) commissioning such a survey would give rise to suspicion of manipulation.
Speaking of the people’s will and a referendum, the citizenry must be vigilant in heading off a Constitutional Assembly in the planned revision of the Charter. The people must insist on a Constitutional Convention with them electing the delegates themselves. They should not wait for a plebiscite to accept or reject onerous amendments the congressmen/delegates drafted. We have seen how election results are corrupted by the powers that be. The same thing can happen to referendum results being manipulated to suit the agenda of sinister forces.
Don’t take it from me. Former President Fidel V. Ramos said it more succinctly. “The Duterte ship of state is sailing in dangerous waters and its skipper doesn’t know how to steer it to safety,” said Ramos.
This is a clear sign FVR has broken off from the then-ambivalent Davao City mayor he had pushed to seek the presidency. This also signals more rough sailing for the President who has yet to complete his first year in office on June 30, 2017.
How long can Digong weather the storm? He has incurred he ire of the US, the United Nations, European Union, the Pope and the Vatican with his foul-mouthed statements even as he courts alliances with China and Russia.
The way it looks, there are no more enemies to be made. Duterte’s worst enemy is himself. Let’s pray he changes his presidential style and does not implode.
