Let's not further worsen the Phl-China rift

Last Sunday, we passed by Carcar on our way to Barili and there were checkpoints set up by the police as a result of the killing of Carl Vinson Apura, the son of Carcar Mayor Nicepuro Apura. If the reports are true that this was another “frat” killing, then we can trace the blame on this murder on our national leadership who, until today, could not stop these fraternities from killing each other. We have been changing leaders for many years but our problems have remained. This is why we should seek a systems change.

If there was something positive about the declaration of Martial Law, it was when Pres. Ferdinand Marcos banned fraternities. He knew that they did not work to help the community but were the principal cause of our peace and order problem, which was aggravated by the insurgency by that terrorist group, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).

I’ve always said that our national leadership should have channeled the pent-up energies of our youth into something more productive if not practical, like for instance reinstating the ROTC. If you already forgot, fraternity hazing was the reason why the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) was scrapped. We’ve written volumes to bring back the ROTC to no avail. But with trouble brewing along the South China Sea (we call it West Philippine Sea) we must now call for the reinstatement of the ROTC because the opening of classes is already next month.

We should no longer delay this because we need our youth to protect and defend our sovereign territory. Back during World War II, the ROTC officers were the backbone of the guerrilla movement against the Japanese. By scrapping the ROTC, our country has been rendered weak and defenseless and we are now an easy target of foreign intervention. So wake up Filipinos!

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Speaking of China, it’s the ides of May already and our country still has to move forward under the leadership of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III. Our country is moving in the opposite direction. Is this what “Daang Matuwid” is all about? When we meet with friends in the shopping mall or in church, the topic of discussion is no longer whether CJ Corona would be acquitted or not. The major topic of concern is about our deteriorating relations with China, which actually has scared more people than the impeachment trial.

Cebu is a major tourist destination and has direct links to China, via Hong Kong or Shanghai. China telling its residents that they are cutting down their chartered flights to and from the Philippines because of the anti-Chinese sentiment prevailing here will be devastating to the country’s tourism programs. Is there such a thing as an anti-Chinese sentiment happening in this country? Personally, I don’t think so.

The Philippines and China have co-existed for many centuries and never looked upon each other as enemies. Manila has a huge Chinese population, complete with a Chinatown. But here in Cebu…we are the only major city without a Chinatown for the simple reason that Filipinos with Chinese ancestry have integrated into Cebuano society and culture. So let’s not further aggravate the situation with anti-Chinese sentiment like what happened in Indonesia in the 1960s, which became a bloody confrontation.

When the People’s Republic of China of Mao Xedong overran the Chinese mainland and forced the Chinese Nationalists to move to the Island of Formosa or Taiwan, the Fil-Chinese in Cebu also split into two groups, the Kuomintang group with ties to Taiwan and those with links to the present Chinese government. But they are all friends, not enemies. Above all, they have done very well to promote the economy of Cebu.

However, many people that I met expressed their apprehensions that what is happening in our country today would result in an anti-Chinese sentiment as the rabble rousers are those leftists groups who by some strange coincidence are allied with the Maoist Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). So we ask, could there be a link where these allied front organizations now having protest marches against the Chinese embassy are actually helping the Chinese government bring down the Aquino Regime so that it could result in a communist takeover of our established democracy? I think there’s more to this than meets the eye. It’s deeper and more sinister.

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THE BLACKBOX: For those seeking God’s Divine Mercy at these times, Bro. Stanley Villavicencio is reminding you that this coming Saturday and Sunday May 19-20 is the 17th Anniversary of the holding of the annual Divine Mercy Convention at the University of Cebu (UC-METC) in SRP. Let us attend this Divine Mercy Convention so God can bless us in all our endeavors.

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