The folly of terminating the Visiting Forces Agreement
To terminate an important, nay, even vital security arrangement that protects our national territory, just to manifest our collective sense of outrage at the Pemberton-Laude affair, is the worst knee-jerk reaction that we could ever opt for, which, if at all, betrays our immaturity as a people. There is no debate that we should manifest our anger as a people, and our strong disapproval on how the Americans are treating our criminal justice system. But it is not appropriate to endanger our own national security and to damage our diplomatic and international relations with our strongest ally, merely because of this very unfortunate private incident that has nothing to do with the overall national interest.
Lest this may be misunderstood. I condemn the murder of a Filipino, and any crime against any Filipino by any perpetrator, alien or our own national. We express anger at any crime committed against our people, whether they are male, female, or LGBT. We believe and so hold that the suspect should appear before the panel of prosecutors that is conducting an inquest and preliminary investigation. He should submit himself to the jurisdiction of our courts because he allegedly committed a capital felony inside our national territory. If it were a Filipino who murdered an American in Samoa or in Guam, the Philippine government would readily surrender the suspect to American authorities. We demand a reciprocity on this matter. It is only just and proper.
All these big words notwithstanding, and rising over the tides of surging passions, the real politik demands that we should not peremptorily call for the abrogation of the VISITING FORCES AGREEMENT. One of my friends in the DFA used a hyperbole by saying that such course of action is like burning the whole bridge that connects two friendly nations, just because one of our fellow citizens has been killed by a national of the other country. The other figure of speech even mentioned something like burning the whole house because one member of the household was hurt by another. Terminating the VFA is an emotional response that may spell serious and far-reaching diplomatic implications. It is a good political gambit but a plain folly when the rubber hits the road.
We should always remember that we are not in a position to be arrogant viz-a-viz the USA. The hard reality is: we need them more than they ever need us. We are an archipelago, or, rather, our nation is a big body of water sprinkled with islands. And we are sadly incapable to defend every inch of our territory. Every single day, Taiwanese fishermen poach inside Philippine seas, and rob us of our our marine resources. And when our navy officers are fired at by pirates and robbers, and they fire back, our justice system is quick to arrest our own men, prosecute our own soldiers and jail them. And China is bullying us and is building big structures in our islands, and we look like little boys who are helpless to get back what rightfully belongs to our country. And it is only the USA that would stand by our side in times of crises and emergency. History has proven that we can trust Uncle Sam regardless of all his own follies too.
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