Wow! I just can’t believe the headline of The Philippine Star yesterday which blared that China scolded the Philippines for our infringing on its sovereignty with irresponsible claims over the Spratlys. The Philippines irresponsible? This tongue lashing came after the Chinese Navy shooed away a Philippine Air Force OV-10 Bronco over our own Philippine waters more than a week ago and it comes right after the Chinese Navy fired shots at Philippine fishing vessels. I have no doubt that the Chinese military has been showing us how powerful they are!
At this point, what can we do? Like a little dog that was just kicked by the Chinese boot, we ran away and whimper… thanks to our poverty, aggravated by corruption, we could hardly bring out any military hardware that would at least make the Chinese show a little respect for us Filipinos. When someone who has a slingshot is challenged by a man pointing a .44 cal Magnum revolver, you don’t question the heavily armed fella, but run away and hope that he won’t shoot you at the back! Perhaps you may ask; where is the United Nations (UN) when the Chinese bullies its neighbors?
No doubt that the Chinese leadership knows that we have a weakling for a President in the person of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III, who even appointed Mr. Domingo Lee to be Philippine Ambassador to China, a virtual neophyte in the world of diplomacy. That means Mr. Domingo will end up learning about Foreign Service from the point of view of the Chinese.
Meanwhile, if you didn’t know, the news media has finally gotten a photo of the first Chinese Aircraft carrier, as China could no longer hide this behemoth from prying (especially from US satellites) eyes, hence it openly admitted that its first Aircraft carrier named Shi Lang which is under finishing touches in Dalian, near North Korea will soon be operational.
While this is a new ship, it is actually kinda old in the sense that China bought it from Ukraine 13-years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed and broke up. The Shi Lang would have been the Soviet carrier Varyag and will soon become the People’s Liberation Army/Navy’s flagship. When she becomes operational, it can come close to Philippine waters and her fighter aircraft can easily fly over Philippine territory with impunity as the Philippine Air Force doesn’t have any interceptors anymore to be of any threat to the Chinese fighters.
No doubt that in this world of Geopolitics, the Philippines plays a vital role because of our strategic location right at the doorstep of China. This is why China is bullying us to submission, more so that they know that Pres. PNoy is a weak President who can easily be bullied!
Finally, let me give you some historical reminders that the last carrier to carrier battle, which is dubbed the greatest naval engagement that was ever fought, was during the Battle of Leyte Gulf from Oct.22-15, 1945. Never again did American aircraft carriers fought such a battle. But with China’s new carrier, the question is, will history repeat itself?
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Are the members of the House of the Representatives truly representative of the Filipino people? If so, logic dictates that when Congress voted to defer or postpone elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) then that vote should have the support of the majority of Filipinos who are represent by their respective Congressmen or Congresswomen. Apparently this is not what the Social Weather Station (SWS) says in its latest survey that shows 51% of the Filipino people are against the postponement of ARMM elections. So why did Congress push for the postponement when the Filipino people don’t want the postponement?
Former Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel, Jr. expressed his dismay that Congress voted for this postponement even with the full knowledge that this is not what the people in the ARMM wanted. Again this is another broken promise by the government of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III who during the campaign promised that his government will be one of consultation. So how come no one in ARMM was consulted when they were the ones directly affected by this election?
Well, so much for the Congressmen from Mindanao who could not band together to stop this nonsense. I have always believed that during elections, politicians from their respective Congressional Districts ask their constituents to vote for them to represent them in Congress. But when they go to Congress, they are swallowed in the vortex of Imperial Manila and forget that their priority should be for the benefit of their constituents. But then this goes against the priorities of Imperial Manila, which is to place more priority projects in Metro Manila, which is happening already today.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com