“Deus Seve Nature” — Baruch Spinoza
—o0o—
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is now in New Delhi, attending the BRICS Summit on Sept. 12-13. This visit to India is upon the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi, and it is also part of his duties as chairman for 2026 of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
I say this trip by Marcos to India is a good thing because he will have an opportunity to see and hear the other side in the ongoing tug-of-war between countries aligned with the United States such as ours, and those in the sphere of influence of China.
BRICS, an economic and security bloc originally composed of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, has grown to now include Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, Indonesia and the United Arab Emirates, with Saudi Arabia as the latest joiner.
This intergovernmental organization of major emerging economies is designed to foster multilateral cooperation, reform global governance, and counterbalance Western-led economic institutions.
The group has “partner countries” that are allowed to engage in summit dialogues such as Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Thus, in this year’s summit, Asean will be represented by the Philippines as chairman, and representatives from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia.
The official line from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is that the President’s participation serves as a strategic opportunity to monitor emerging economic frameworks and represent the region’s priorities and perspectives, while directly engaging with leaders of major emerging economies.
As chair of BRICS this year, Modi said, “Our goal will be to redefine BRICS as Building Resilience and Innovation for Cooperation and Sustainability.” This play of words will not sit well with some individuals who are tired of motherhood statements and trite, professional-sounding words.
But Modi followed this up with the beef—“Just as we brought inclusivity to our G-20 presidency and placed the concerns of the Global South during our presidency of BRICS, we will advance this forum with a people-centric approach and the spirit of Humanity First.”
With China, Iran, and Russia in this group, it goes without saying that BRICS is unabashedly opposed to the current dominance of the United States and its wobbly currency, the US dollar, in world affairs.
Rabid defenders of US interests in the Philippines such as Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro and Dindo Manhit of Stratbase Institute, along with their friend ex-US Air Force Col. Ray Powell are obviously averse to BBM’s hobnobbing with the leaders of BRICS.
Bongbong Marcos as Asean chair is well advised in giving this BRICS Summit the priority it deserves, especially because four members of Asean are active in this bloc, and the region should maintain an open mind in the matter of available opportunities in trade, credit and finance, innovation and technology that membership in BRICS offers.
