LOCSIN IS THE WRONG MAN

By Jose Alejandrino

The first time I met Teddy Boy Locsin I realized he had an inflated ego. This was at the Palace during Cory’s time. He boasted of graduating from Harvard - which he did - and of being such a great fellow when he was only Cory’s speechwriter. To be fair, he knows how to write in English.

The second time was when he attended Joe de Venecia’s luncheon many years later at Joe’s house in Forbes Park. I think it was Joe’s birthday. He came and sat at our table where Carmen Pedrosa and I were seated. Teddy Boy did all the talking. We just listened. I don’t know whether it was to impress us but he bragged about working with the CIA.

After that, he wrote in a column about Amal Clooney, Carmen Pedrosa’s friend, as if he had something to do with getting Amal to help GMA when it was Carmen who got Amal to become GMA’s lawyer. Amal is the wife of George Clooney, the famous Hollywood actor. Locsin’s column irritated Carmen. She wrote in her column in reply to Locsin without alluding to him by name that ”the self-confessed CIA agent” should, to put it politely, shove off. Locsin got the message and never talked about Amal after that.

When Locsin got appointed as DFA secretary, I told Bong Go privately it was a mistake. I said Locsin would get the president into trouble because of his inflated ego.

In previous postings, I referred to Locsin as an Amboy who opposed Defense Sec. Delfin Lorenzana’s call for a review of the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty because it was too ambiguous and could drag us into a war not of our making. I, too, favor such a review. The US does not favor a review and Locsin said it was best to leave the treaty ambiguous, thus supporting the US position. In a later posting, Locsin said the Philippines only had one military ally - the US - and needed nobody else. I posted what Locsin said was a confirmation of him being an Amboy and since the president had an independent foreign policy of being friends with all major powers, Locsin’s bias towards the US ran counter to the president’s position. The job of the head of DFA, I said, was to be neutral. Our national interest requires a balancing of competing interests between major powers.

CNN published Locsin’s latest tweet saying he was not afraid of going to war with China. Again, this runs counter to the president’s stated position he doesn’t want war with China. Locsin’s tweet merely provokes the Chinese to adopting a harder stance. It also makes Beijing suspicious of Locsin being a US agent. It puts the president in a spot because the Chinese are not sure whether Locsin is speaking for Duterte in his capacity as head of the DFA. It also puts doubt about our having an independent foreign policy and adds to the mistrust. How can the president resolve diplomatically our contentious issues with China if there is doubt about Duterte’s real policy?

The LP’s Otso Diretso wants to provoke Duterte into a conflict with China. Hence it’s challenge to him to join them to Scarborough Shoal. Locsin’s open provocation of China makes me suspect he is playing the same game as the LP. Despite his claim to support Duterte, he might well be torpedoing him in the back which wouldn’t surprise me because of his past relations to the Aquinos, notably Cory.

I maintain Teddy Boy Locsin is the wrong man for the job at DFA. As I had predicted to Bong Go, he will get the president into trouble. It is happening now. Locsin cannot control his mouth because of an inflated ego about himself. My guess is he thinks he knows better than Duterte. Before he gets the president into further trouble, he should be replaced by a seasoned diplomat who understands how diplomacy works. Send Locsin back to the UN where nothing much happens there.