I puked with disgust reading VP Robredo’s twerk on Duterte’s statement about China’s being “in possession” of the South China Sea which only exposes how shallow is her understanding on such an important issue viz-a-viz the government’s strategy in handling it. And you have the SC Chief Justice Carpio’s idiotic assertion of sticking it out with the Arbitral Tribunal’s decision and even suggesting to bring China again to the same Court for not complying with its judgment on the Scarborough Shoal issue notwithstanding the fact that China never recognized such court’s jurisdiction and proceedings. And all other antagonists of the story are in chorus parroting the same line of moronic narrative.
It is a public knowledge that The Hague’s ruling on our case does not provide any enforcement mechanism and as Malacanang said, which remained unrebutted, “there is no power on earth that can enforce it”. Simply put, we have it on paper, and that’s all there is to it. It’s useless! We have been asking these Anti Dutertards to suggest any concrete action on how to enforce the ruling based on their game plan when they filed the case but until now, we hear nothing from them. This only reinforces the belief that the previous administration didn’t have any idea of the end game and repercussions of the case they filed against China which in the process, actually drowned this country in the depths of the SCS conflict. Hilbay suggested to perpetually protest China’s continued incursion within the terms of the Arbitral ruling. But my golly, you have been protesting since 2012 and it produced no concrete positive results for the country. On the contrary, it emboldened China on its fortification activities in the West Philippine Sea. Carpio once suggested to send our gray ships in the contested areas and when they get bombed by China, we turn to the US for help as well as tap other mechanisms within the UN system for relief and even go back to the same Arbitral Tribunal for violations committed by China on the ruling. Now, can someone tell me, how is this not idiotic?
In a desperate attempt to cover up for the treasonous blunder they have committed in mishandling the SCS issue, they are now moving heaven and earth to put the blame on Duterte for China’s incursion on our waters. Of course, this is maliciously false and a grievous lie which the Filipino people should outrightly reject with disdain. The public and the world for that matter should be reminded that the incursion started in 2012 during the time of PNOY. Our sovereignty over Scarborough shoal was given up by PNoy via Senator Trillanes who was deputized as the back channel negotiator with China during the Scarborough stand-off. It should be recalled that prior to the stand-off, we had control over the Scarborough shoal but when Trillanes was sent to negotiate and convince China to leave the shoal, the opposite happened. Our ships were ordered by PNOY to leave the shoal thereby leaving the contested waters under the control of China since then. That act of the government through PNoy and Trillanes was either a sell off on our sovereignty for monetary consideration (only God knows) or giving up that part of our national territory out of cowardice. Now they have the gall to call the government to go to war with China! Sanamagan.
What actually irked China was the fact that Philippines was taking the cue from Uncle Sam in dealing with the Scarborough Stand-off. Hence, instead of reducing the tension, it was in fact heightened because it appeared that China was dealing with the US on the conflict and not with the Philippines. Such that when we lost control over Scarborough, Uncle Sam prodded PNoy to initiate the filing of a case against China before the Court of Arbitral Tribunal for which he willingly did instead of heeding to the call of China for a dialogue sans the shadow of Uncle Sam in settling the dispute. Since Philippines closed the door for negotiations by filing the case with support of the US, China proceeded with the fortification activities in the contested areas. So, we had a situation where for almost 4 years, Philippines was busy presenting and defending its case ex parte (without the opposing party) at The Hague with batteries of international lawyers and experts paid for by our taxes, Hilbay and Carpio included, while China was busy constructing islands and military facilities in the areas where we have claims. The people should know that China’s activities in the West Philippine Sea were all done within the eyes and nose of the US and the PNoy government but they did nothing to physically stop China from the incursions. Such that when the ruling was handed down in 2016, we already lost part of our territory in the WPS as China has completed the construction of the islands. So, how can you feel victorious over a case when in the process, you already lost physical possession of the property which is the subject of the litigation and worst, the other party refused to be bound by the ruling on the case you filed? Isn’t this a case of an idiotic assertion?
Carpio and Hilbay inisted that the ruling is not useless. If indeed it is useful, how come ASEAN did not use the arbitral ruling to slap China with our victory and tell her to back off from the contested areas? Why is it that instead of gloating on The Hague ruling, the ASEAN forged with China a Framework for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea designed to help diffuse tensions in the disputed maritime territory? Why are the other claimants on the contested waters e.g. Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan never used the Arbitral ruling to kick China’s ass off and tell her to leave the areas they have overlapping claims with? The only argument you cited on the usefulness of the ruling is the fact that US patrol boats along with other countries in Europe can now traverse in these international waterways with the Arbitral ruling. WTF! Is this an admission therefore that you filed that case against China to serve the interests of US and Europe and not to protect our claims in the WPS?
These anti Dutertard experts further argued that because Duterte did not do anything to stop China on its activities in the WPS, he in effect surrendered our claims in the contested areas which is an act of treason. But for fuck sake idiots, using your own deranged argument, China constructed all these islands and military fortifications for 4 years right within your noses and you never lift a finger to physically stop China and you do no not want your cowardice to be considered an act of surrender on our territorial claims which by your book, a treasonous act? Sanamagan!
The public should not be misled by the malicious lies which the Anti Dutertards want to ram through the throats of the Filipino people. It was PNoy and his minions who gave up our claims to China. When Duterte assumed the Presidency in 2016, China is already in physical possession of the contested areas with the construction of the islands and military fortifications thereon. We lost them all during the time of PNoy and this is a fact that should be written in our country’s history. So, if there is any group who should be held liable for treason, for being stupid, idiot, morons and all the curses in heaven, it is PNoy and all the members of his idiotic legal team who filed our case against China which brought us in the face of this huge blank wall on our territorial claims.
Duterte’s main task is how to get back our lost territories as there is nothing to protect anymore, and much less, give up, since we are not in physical control over the contested areas. Will Digong take off from where PNoy brought us to such a miserable state? Obviously, this administration detests even the thought of following through what PNoy has chartered for us, being such a grave disaster. We should realize that arguing our claims from points of international law will bring us nowhere as we cannot force the other party to go for arbitration in a tribunal of our choice. We may have succeeded in doing it unilaterally at The Hague but look at the results! Useless! China has the options as well to bring the case to other fora or courts within the UN system including the Security Council where it is a member along with its ally Russia and we are not. You can imagine the disaster it will bring about to our claims in a fora where China has the advantage. With his foresight on the issues and comprehensive grasp on the adverse ramifications of being too legalistic about the case, Duterte has decided to use diplomacy in working for our claims over the WPS, thus avoiding a confrontational approach in dealing with China. It takes a little effort of reading and some amount of common sense to understand where Duterte is heading and why are we inching closer successfully on our claims over WPS with him as our top diplomat.
For those familiar with world politics and international relations, the whole gamut of the SCS issue should be looked at from the geopolitical perspective where the balance of power in the region is at play. It is a fact that there is rivalry between US and China not only in the world trade aspect but also on their global influence, particularly in Asia which China considers as its turf. Clearly, China wants to diminish, if not abrogate, the US military grip and imperialistic influence over the countries in the ASEAN and East Asian Regions. One way of doing this is to shut off US access in the SCS waters which is something US is not ready to give in considering the existence of its allies in the EA region, e.g. Japan, south Korea, Taiwan, etc. So, in a broader perspective, the main issue here is actually the conflict between US and China as to who will control this part of the globe militarily and US is asserting its position being the world’s military power with China trying to Challenge such assertion.
Philippines, with its strategic location and alliance with the US, is right in the forefront of that conflict because the US government is using our country as its pawn in its proxy war with China. Why did US ask Philippines to file a case against China to invalidate its 9-Dash Line Map when the Philippines’ overlapping claims with China constitute only about 8 percent of the entire SCS area? Other claimants did not consent much less participate to the proceedings save for Vietnam who was present as an observer. When we got the favorable ruling, did the other claimants invoke the results of the proceedings in driving away China from their respective contested areas? They never felt as victorious as the Anti Dutertards because they know it was an exercise of futility.
If US government was indeed sincere in helping us, it could have deployed its aircraft carriers, and patrol boats in the WPS along with our gray ships in 2012 to prevent China from taking physical possession of the contested areas and the construction of the islands and other military fortifications. The contested areas are within our EEZ and with the RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty and EDCA, no country can stop us from doing military exercises in these areas as deterrent activities to prevent China from moving in. Moreover, that could have forced China to agree to the arbitration proceedings at The Hague or constrained it to bring a separate arbitration case in a different forum in which case the country has the best chance of winning with the results being binding to both parties. But that is all now water under the bridge. US got what it wanted which is the invalidation of the 9-Dash Line Map Claim of China in the SCS while Philippines got hit by losing to China part of its territory in the WPS and sadly, US government never gave a damn with what we lost from such useless exercise. Sanamagan!
To add salt to our injury, US and European countries are now proposing joint military patrols and exercises in SCS. Digong’s statement declaring that such activities will just create a friction knowing that China is already in possession of the SCS not sit well with VP Robredo who criticized Duterte for such pronouncement implying that Digong surrendered already our territory. Can someone please help the VP find where her brains are? She seems to have lost her ability for critical thinking with her head devoid of any place for at least a minute grasp of what is really going on in the SCS! When Digong suggested that China is already in possession of the SCS, he is challenging US, Europe, UN and the entire world to deal with China head on and if necessary, bomb its military installations in the WPS to rid its control in the SCS.
This administration is aware that by the design, the west, particularly the US government intentionally did not stop China from occupying the contested areas because such will create a huge tension between China and claimant countries who are mostly ASEAN members. And if there is that tension, the presence of America and its military might is needed by the smaller countries. Hence, the proposal for these patrol and military exercises in the SCS which Digong has expressed reservations with. This is the marketing strategy of the US government’s imperialistic design to keep the balance of power in the region in their favor with the help of the Philippines and the other claimants. Its narrative is simple. China is a bully and we need the US to protect the bullied countries like the Philippines. And you will hear this narrative from the anti-China rants of the Anti Dutertards who took the American deceitful narrative hook line and sinker. Sanamagan!
But ASEAN rejected the idea of being exploited by the US as a pawn on its rivalry with China. ASEAN’s position on the issue is that the only way to solve the conflict is through negotiation. In fact, it has engaged China in a dialogue to settle the dispute as neighbor. It has never tapped the help of the manipulative arm of the US government.
If one only cares to analyze Duterte’s diplomatic strategy on the WPS, it is but simple. He is focused only on the 8 percent of the SCS issue which is the WPS where our claim lies. He doesn’t give a damn with the International waterways which should be the problem of the US and Europe and the 92 percent of the issues being incumbent with other claimants to settle and which is being resolved under the ASEAN mechanisms. With our new friendship with China after declaring our independent foreign policy, and China’s sincere reciprocal gesture of friendship, all indicators point to the fact that indeed, Duterte is in the right track on our foreign diplomacy and eventually, we can have back our territories given up by the Aquino administration out of sheer stupidity.
Our main challenge these days is the effort exerted by the Anti Dutertards in sabotaging Duterte’s china pivot policy and the amount of resources poured in by the US government in projecting in the public’s mind set that China is our enemy and should not be trusted on the SCS issue. It is appalling to note that while this administration is doing its best to get out of the mayhem America has put us in, the yellows, the reds and the anti Dutertards for that matter are trying to pull this country down and bring it back to Uncle Sam’s lap as its pawn in perpetually engaging China in its proxy war. What a shame!
In our country’s history, China neither invaded the Philippines nor killed Filipinos out of any conflict. But America did occupy this country and killed Filipinos by the hundreds of thousands with some being massacred helplessly during the American occupation. That is fact on record. But in our country’s love for democracy as propagated by the imperialist America, Filipino’s fought for the American flag against Japanese occupation where this country sacrificed hundreds of thousand Filipino lives. The US government helped Japan recovered after the war and it is today an economic power with its own military capable of defending itself from any external aggression. Has America done the same to our country? Our naval capability is a big joke in the whole of ASEAN and we can barely send naval ships to the contested areas to protect our claims. This “big joke” reflects the kind of treatment America gave us post World War 2 era notwithstanding the existence of then RP-US Military Bases Agreement, to the current RP-US Mutual Defense Treaty and EDCA. Our naval and military capabilities remain under miserable state. Is it by design so this country will be forever dependent on the security provided by the US government out of its token military assistance and the carrot-and-stick approach on development assistance embedded with preposterously onerous terms? To be used perpetually as its pawn in fighting its rivals in this part of the region? Yes folks. After losing hundreds of thousands of lives fighting for America during the WW2, this is what we are getting from them – a “big joke”! So, under this narrative, who should be treated as our enemy then?
This is not to encourage anti-US sentiment for American people will always be friends of the Filipinos. But when Duterte declared our independent foreign policy, US government should just respect it if it treats this country as truly sovereign and no longer its vassal. As an independent state, this country should be free to choose who will be its friends and which ones to declare as its enemy and certainly, not the ones according to the dictate of the US government. Philippines does not have any enemy – not the US nor China, and those idiotic Anti Dutertards who continue to parrot the American narrative should learn to suck it up! – Jun Avelino
(Please share if you wish – Jun Avelino)
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