In a recent telephone conversation with DFA Undersecretary Maria Theresa Lazaro, America’s Deputy State Secretary Kurt Campbell said that “China’s dangerous actions threaten regional peace and stability.”
He continued to affirm that “the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty, which obligates Washington and Manila to help defend the other in major conflicts, extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its coast guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.”
The question on when to activate the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) hangs tight over the heads of two nations.
And what really constitutes an “act of war”? Is a severed thumb enough, or must a huge destruction of an island or the loss of an individual’s life, or several lives a signal to ready the swords and shields for battle?
Disturbingly, a recent law by China allows its coast guard to “seize foreign vessels” that “illegally enter China’s territorial waters.” In addition, the law orders that crews be “detained for up to sixty days.”
If you think that’s bad, a renewed law from a 2021 legislation says that the CCG can “fire upon foreign ships if necessary.”
This is not good, not good at all. We must all avoid armed conflict at all times, but the Chinese are pushing us against a (sea) wall and we will have to retaliate at some point.
To paraphrase German Field Marshal Helmut Von Moltke the Elder, wars can take one of three paths and usually elect a fourth one. In China’s case, it is difficult to predict with precision how, when and where a war might begin or the path it will take once it does.
Yet there are many reasons to think that such a conflict could remain limited and last much longer than has been generally assumed. On that note, I think the Chinese Coast Guard will be patrolling the disputed territories for a long time and until such time that we give up on our claim. It’s a battle of wits, and hopefully not of battleships.
This is short of saying what if China decides to send their navy other than just the coast guard?
As of this year, the Chinese navy has some 252,000 active personnel, 680 ships and 198 aircraft. China now has the world’s largest maritime fighting force while the Philippines only has 24,500 active personnel and 90 combat vessels.
No match.
Hence, our Foreign Affairs Department must strengthen its diplomatic mechanisms when addressing the bullying tactics of the Chinese in the open seas (and only God knows where next) before another thumb is severed or a life is wasted. And then what?
Harassers and harassees
Everywhere one goes, one witnesses some form of harassment inflicted on someone. And the most frequent yet subtle of all is sexual harassment.
Some years back, the late former President Fidel Ramos signed into law the much-feared anti-sexual bill which came as a relief to those subjected daily to sexual harassment from sex-starved perverts.
I made a list of the following pairings; professor and student; government official and employee; movie producer/director and starlet; airline pilot and stewardess; bank manager and bank teller; store owner and sales lady; policeman and waitress; society matron and dance instructor; editor and reporter;
radio/television executive and talent applicant; medical director/doctor and nurse; military officer and WAC; hotel executive and front desk staffer; tricycle driver and passenger; taxi driver and passenger; swimming instructor and student; mayor’s inspection team member and night club entertainer; policeman and GRO; husband and estranged wife; and, pastor/priest and church member.
You get the point. Remember, we do have a law, and victims can punish these vultures.
To begin with, your local barangay can assist you when filing a complaint against an offender, but be careful as there are also cases between barangay officials and complainants.
Today’s harassment has graduated into bullying on the internet and in the open seas. More reason why one must be vigilant always when identifying these would-be felons.
This guy’s in disguise
In the days of President Ferdinand Marcos Sr.’s prestige and power, rumor has it that he was once stranded in a town somewhere up North due a temporary mechanical trouble of his private Sikorsky helicopter, forcing it to land and would take a few hours to repair it since the mechanic would be coming from Manila.
He then put on a disguise and headed to the town’s one and only cinema.
When his picture appeared on the screen, everyone stood up but he remained seated.
The manager of the theater came forward, tapped him on his shoulder and whispered, (translated from Ilocano) “I feel the same way, but please stand up. It’s safer for you.”
But more than a rumor, this was certainly just a made-up joke from his critics.
Nevertheless, it was no less than the late President Marcos Sr. who taught us what it truly means to honor our flag, to love our country and its people and to be proud of our rich heritage.
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Factoid: As Senator, Joseph Estrada was a member of the “Magnificent 12” who voted to terminate the RP-US Military Bases Agreement, leading to the withdrawal of American servicemen in Clark and Subic. When he became President, his first Administrative Order No. 1 ordered the removal of Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon as Chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA).