Contempt

Former senator Joker Arroyo so memorably rated the Aquino administration a mere “student council.” It seems his words were taken with utter seriousness in Beijing, where our President is treated like an errant schoolboy.

The picture from the opening of the 10th China-Asean Expo in Nanning, China says it all. Save for the Filipino president, all the heads of government of the regional grouping were present for the ceremonies presided over by Premier Li Kequiang.

Even Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung was happily smiling in the company of his country’s erstwhile enemy. Evidently, Beijing did not require him to renounce Vietnam’s claim over the Paracel islands. A number of bloody skirmishes have occurred in islands claimed by both Vietnam and China.

The reports about what actually happened are sketchy and conflicting. The normally voluble mouthpieces at the Palace have maintained an unusual silence about this incident.

From various reports, it appears that China did dangle an invitation — but attached conditions to it. Beijing, according to some sources, wanted Manila to withdraw the arbitration case filed with the UN and therefore yield to China’s demand that all territorial issues be dealt with exclusively on a bilateral basis.

When Manila refused to accept the conditions, our President was rudely disinvited to an event where the Philippines is, ironically, the country of honor. The Palace even admits President Aquino was the last to know of the abrupt turn of events.

Our president was treated with absolute contempt. Yet the Palace prefers to suffer the insult in silence.

It is as if a neighbor crossed over and gave us a hard slap on the face — yet we chose not to protest the act. The whole nation has been humiliated by the way our President was treated — yet we hear not a squeak from him.

Time and again, brave words emanate from our leaders from the comfort of their lecterns, casually calling China a “bully.” This week, our President was so blatantly bullied and all his men seem to be at a loss for words.

Was there authentic courage behind those brave words? Do we have a sustainable strategy for dealing with our large and imperious neighbor?

These are troubling questions. Our leaders give us no answers. They are even reluctant to talk about this most recent diplomatic rebuke.

I have had many conversations with Chinese counterparts the past months. Most of them do not bother to put a veil on their contempt for our leader.

I am not sure what factors shape this attitude. What we can be sure of is their intense dislike for President Aquino will be unhealthy for our bilateral relations.

It could be that the intense dislike draws from the President’s refusal to apologize for the bloody Luneta incident. It could be the manner the Northrail project, China’s gift to the Filipino people, was so crudely scrapped. It could be the words and phrases he uses in his speeches.

It could be all of these and many more. The point is: if they do not respect our leader they will not respect our formal policy positions.

If they see our leader as weak, they will treat the country as a weakling. We see Beijing’s contemptuous attitude in the cement blocks they have laid down at Scarborough Shoal, possibly in preparation for building permanent installations there.

Our relationship with China is an important but complex one. It becomes more difficult to navigate that relationship if we get no respect in Beijing.

Honorable

I wonder what in the word “irrevocable” President Aquino and Secretary de Lima did not understand.

After President Aquino so carelessly imputed untrustworthiness in the NBI, Director Nonnatus Rojas submitted his irrevocable resignation. Unlike that infamous incident involving the Customs Commissioner who resigned via text message, Rojas wrote his resignation on paper, the better to keep it on record and the proper way it should be done.

In response to that unexpected but undoubtedly honorable act, Secretary de Lima nagged the President not to accept it. After several days of trying to dissuade Rojas from leaving the service, both de Lima and Aquino eventually realized they are dealing here with a man who means what he says, who walks the talk, who values the integrity of the agency he heads.

In a word, Rojas is no Biazon. Delicadeza is not dead.

Now the NBI is in disarray. All the agents have turned out to express disgust over the way the agency is treated and the events that led Rojas to abruptly terminate his service. In the midst of so much investigation to be done, the country’s premier investigative agency is seriously demoralized.

Now de Lima and Aquino have a serious management problem in their hands. The people they want to retain have resigned. Those they want to resign have barricaded themselves in their posts.

We do not know how long the talent search for Rojas’ replacement will take. We do not know if anyone of competence would relish taking that job and stepping into a quagmire. We do not know if the NBI will be restored to its former self soon enough. Chaos opens the field for scoundrels to play.

Saddest of all, we are told of how wonderful a public servant Rojas has been and how vital he is to the agency he served only after he handed in his irrevocable resignation — an act precipitated by the President’s own careless utterance.