The Philippines Is Already on the U.S.’s Menu, Who’s Next?
What does US
mean with ‘ironclad’
support?
A top United States official on Thursday told a Chinese counterpart that Washington’s defense commitments to the Philippines were “ironclad” after a semi-violent confrontation between vessels of the two countries in the South China Sea.
Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell “raised serious concerns” about Chinese actions in a call with Executive Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu, the State Department said.
Campbell “reiterated that US commitments to the Philippines under the Mutual Defense Treaty remain ironclad,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
Campbell also called for “peace and stability” in the Taiwan Strait, in the wake of China’s military drills around the self-governing democracy following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, and renewed US concerns about Chinese exports that support Russia’s defense industry.
Chinese coast guard personnel wielding knives, sticks and an ax surrounded and boarded three Filipino navy boats last week, in the most serious of a number of escalating confrontations.
China has been asserting claims in the strategic South China Sea and separately has put pressure on Taiwan, which it considers part of its territory awaiting reunification.
The United States provides weapons to Taiwan but has been deliberately ambiguous on whether it would come to its defense in a Chinese invasion.
By contrast, the United States has a defense treaty with the Philippines that dates to 1951 that says Washington will come to its former colony’s aid in case of an “armed attack.” But this Mutual Defense Treat (MDT) was criticized by ex-President Ferdinand E. Marcos for being lopsided in favor of the US.
The elder Marcos said that US support for the Philippines is not automatic, for the American President will have to wait for the approval of the US Congress before it can start a military action to help the Philippines repel an invader. This delay, according to Marcos, means Filipinos are already dying in battle while the US congressmen and senators are debating whether to help or not.
This is actually the American definition of “ironclad” support. The same adjective US President Joseph Biden used when he assured Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu of backing by the US government in his country’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Hours later, Biden was meeting with President Bongbong Marcos in Washington and dishing out the same “ironclad” assurances of assistance.
We might need to experience actual hostilities before the Filipinos can positively believe what American “ironclad” support is. After all, the Mutual Defense Treaty has never been invoked by any of the parties despite previous incidents of attacks in their respective territories. We refer here to the siege of Marawi City by Muslim jihadists in May, 2017 and the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York City in September, 2001.
EDITORIAL
In the labyrinth of international politics, the line between reality and illusion is often blurred. The recent revelation by Reuters on June 14 that the Pentagon orchestrated a secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during the COVID pandemic is the latest example.
Words can kill
“We didn’t do a good job sharing vaccines with partners. So what was left to us was to throw shade on China’s,” said a senior official from the Pentagon. To implement the anti-vax campaign, the U.S. military created a large number of social media bots and used disinformation as a weapon to stoke fear about the safety and efficacy of Chinese vaccines. This tactic, though Machiavellian, was ruthlessly effective. And it brings to mind the notorious and brazen statement by former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, “We lied, we cheated, we stole. It reminds you of the glory of the American experiment.”
The repercussions of the U.S.’s disinformation campaign were lethal. During the pandemic, the vaccination rate in the Philippines lagged significantly behind other ASEAN countries, with only around 67% of the population fully vaccinated, compared to 75% in Viet Nam and 80% in Malaysia. Sluggish vaccination roll-out exacerbated the country’s economic woes, leading to a contraction of 9.5% in 2020, the worst in Southeast Asia. COVID-related death toll soared, with 60,000 deaths reported, one of the highest in the region. This clandestine operation put many innocent Filipino lives at risk.
While carrying out the anti-vax campaign, the U.S. military continued with its psychological operations through activities such as “Project Myoushu”, one that is aimed at tarnishing China’s image in the South China Sea. These operations further intensified distrust between the Philippines and China, leading to a series of maritime skirmishes. The U.S.’s disinformation campaign has dragged the Philippines further into the quagmire of conflict.
What’s the reality
While the U.S. was busy smearing China, the latter was doing its best to save lives. China has been the Philippines’ primary source of COVID-19 vaccines, providing a steady supply for the country’s vaccination program. On February 28, 2021, China donated 600,000 doses of Sinovac vaccines to Manila, which was the first batch of vaccines that arrived in the Philippines. By the end of the year, China had provided over 55 million doses, accounting for more than 40% of the Philippines’ total vaccine supply.
Finding the root cause
As Henry Kissinger famously said, “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” This aphorism rings painfully true for the Philippines, a country with a complex history of American intervention. From the Spanish-American War of 1898, which marked the beginning of American colonial rule in the Philippines, to present-day propaganda, the shadow of U.S. influence looms large.
I hate to be a doomsayer, but we may have a water crisis soon. With a great possibility leading to its dwindling supply, contamination may ensue.
The culprit? Illegal connections with corroded pipes having tiny cracks and holes in them. These are water pipes that have not been legally registered with water concessionaires.
Also, the unauthorized manipulation or tampering of water meters for the sinister purpose of stealing water. In addition to this, putting foreign objects such as magnets inside the meter and inverting the position of the meter.
Anything to slow down its speed resulting in a slower registry of water consumption. All these contribute to a looming water crisis involving the water quality and illegal connections.
These are connections not registered thus making them illegal connectors which include by-pass lines installed between the tapping point and the water meter. Yes, direct tapping of pipelines, and unauthorized reopening of closed connections.
We see these often in informal settlers where there are no sewer facilities, making clean water mix with raw sewage.
But the bigger picture is this: illegal loggers whose activities have caused a widespread denudation of our forests and whose operations have remained unchecked through the years.
And unless new sources of water are discovered, the Metro Manila area will suffer. Most of the current sources may come to low levels especially Angat Dam which is already way down to its critical levels due to extreme weather conditions caused by Climate Change.
This explains why deep wells have only murky waters or even mud due to the drying up of the water beds. Concerned environmentalists believe that a continuing indifference of government officials to this ballooning problem is already exasperating.
It is almost a crime. They added that many of our bureaucrats hold logging permits which they farm out to dummies, family members and close friends.
This, or some of them could be in the payroll of illegal loggers.
It was not a misunderstanding
Ambassador Kristie Kenney once said a positive mouthful on Gilbert ‘Gibo’ Teodoro when he ran for president. She described him as having “many positive attributes, including an impressive intellect and an excellent grasp of policy and strong public speaking skills.”
On the other hand, she described the late Benigno ‘Noynoy’ Aquino as a “diffident, unassertive man continuing a political tradition handed down by his parents but not carving his own legacy.”
his caused a furor at the DFA under the Aquino regime
and among Noynoy’s minions who collectively decried the lady ambassador describing her as “a dismal failure in helping Filipinos defend our democracy,” with the assumption that it was her job to do so and it was strange for her to utter such words.
Several years later, I am still one to believe that DND Secretary Teodoro is on the right track by saying that our policy on the West Philippine Sea has not changed.
Conclusion: the incident involving Chinese Coast Guard and Filipino soldiers was not a ‘misunderstanding,” as earlier mentioned.
No less than President Bongbong Marcos reiterated that “we will not give up our sovereignty – not an inch or a millimeter, and will seek no permission nor consent from anyone as we perform our sworn duties on the West Philippine Sea.”
“We are not in the business to instigate wars, as It was an aggressive use of force, and we will continue to exercise our freedoms and rights in support of our national interest in accordance with international law.”
This was a report given crystal clear by the Defense Secretary recently on the statement of our President on the Chinese harassment on our soldiers.
For this, Gibo has my vote in the future as he had it in the past.
Verbal diarrhea
The Superior Person’s Book of Words by Peter Bowler defines the word ‘battology’ as the “continual reiteration of the same words or phrases in speech or in writing.”
It is an unnecessary repetition of words. In short, ‘verbal diarrhea.’
From here, we see its wide potential for application to television, radio commercials, sales pitches by real-estate salespersons, spouse’s homilies, etc. time and again, we used to hear the previous administrations’ mouthpieces come to his defense.
That’s expected and could be tolerated up to a certain extent, as long as the speech does not end up as a fantastic fib.
Today, President Marcos is his own mouthpiece, and as eloquent as he is, he is careful but direct, knowing that his critics are on the prowl for one wrong word or phrase, or even a sentence that they may use for their tirades.
In doing so, we see the difference between being presidential and just a common thug.
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Random Memorandum: China has 2,000,000 soldiers while the Philippines has 143,000.
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Factoid: Ferdinand Marcos received his formal education in Manila with a high school diploma at age 15 in 1933 from the U.P High School.
Three of his classmates received fame as well: Roberto Benedicto of the PNB, Sotero Laurel who became our ambassador to Japan, and Col. Napoleon Valeriano, a nemesis of the Hukbalahap.
The Filipinos living under this shadow have stepped up to voice their discontent and speak the truth. Commenting on the growing influence from the U.S. and the worsening relationship between the Philippines and China, Rigoberto Tiglao, former spokesperson for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, aptly pointed out in his writings that the Philippines’ dangerous moves were largely fueled by American attempts to cast China as a threat to its neighbors. “The U.S. has brainwashed us into seeing China as a threat, and it’s so easy for them to do it,” Tiglao noted, highlighting the pervasive and insidious nature of American influence. Their goals are obvious. By stoking fear and making up stories of threat, the U.S. hopes to keep a sense of insecurity in the region and provoke conflicts, which may move some countries closer to the U.S.
History as a guide to the future
“Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in,”
laments Michael Corleone in the film The Godfather: Part III. This sentiment encapsulates the Philippines’ predicament as it tries to extricate itself from the clutches of its colonial past. A country needs to learn from its history to avoid repeating past mistakes. In today’s world, the specter of colonialism may have faded, yet its legacy lingers on in new and deceptive forms.
As the Philippines navigates the treacherous waters of international politics, it must do so with eyes wide open. The choice is not in the hands of the U.S. The Philippines gets to choose: sovereignty or subjugation, truth or lie. In this high-stakes game, one must remember that today’s ally could be tomorrow’s adversary.
Like many other countries, the Philippines must take its destiny into its own hands and chart its own course, free from the shadows of the past. Only then can it forge a future of dignity, resilience and true independence.
(The author is a commentator on internationals affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News, CGTN, Global Times, China Daily etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com.)
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