We cannot be a clearing house for the US

I first learned of it from Rigoberto Tiglao in his Manila Times column. Tiglao had red-flagged a supposed "demand" by the United States for the Philippines to "temporarily" accept Afghan refugees for processing as immigrants. He accused Philippine ambassador to Washington Jose Manuel "Babe" Romualdez of lobbying Malacañang to approve the plan.

Because it appeared to me that there was a certain dynamic between Tiglao and Romualdez, I held my horses and refrained from immediately registering my opposition to the plan even if the temptation was great to do so. But that was before Senator Imee Marcos entered the picture. Now an adamant Imee is demanding an investigation.

As a backgrounder, with the capital Kabul having fallen to the Taliban, the United States hastily completed by August 31, 2021 the frantic withdrawal of all its troops and citizens from war-torn Afghanistan where it had been at war since 2001, its longest ever. In the ensuing security vacuum, thousands of Afghan refugees were forced to flee.

Not much was learned about the fate of the refugees in the succeeding months until Tiglao started making noise about the US plan to bring some of them here, with Romualdez allegedly leading the charge on behalf of American interests. If even Imee, herself a Romualdez on her mother's side, appears nettled by the development, then pause would be prudent.

Imee is particularly wary about the seeming secrecy with which the plan seems veiled. Other than the noise generated by Tiglao, who seems piqued by Romualdez as much as, if not more than, the plan itself, no one appeared interested, much less gotten wind of it. But now Manang Imee has joined the fray, so this must be really serious stuff.

And I have no doubt it is. Allowing a sea of humanity from a country with a rather spotty history in contemporary times needs careful study, with particular emphasis on security, sovereignty, and precedence. With all due respect to the good people of Afghanistan, no self-respecting country can fling its doors wide open simply because the US says so.

On the contrary, and precisely because it is the US that says so, any self-respecting country must exercise due diligence before acceding to any plan, regardless of whether it is requested or demanded. Time and again it has been proven that everything the US does always has its own self-interest at the heart of it.

So why does the US want the Philippines to act as a clearing house for Afghan refugees? Several things come to mind. With US presidential elections just around the corner, the US does not want to be reminded of its Afghan debacle nor have the matter of refugees and immigrants exacerbate the same problem it already has at its borders.

But why the Philippines? Why not any of the pro-US chorus in the EU? Because none in the EU is a doormat nor as foolish and star-struck as a would-be lover than the Philippines is. We would take off our shirt and lay it across a puddle for Lady America. We took a bullet once for America and with a rekindled dalliance like EDCA, the US thinks we will do it again.

America reads us very well. EDCA is a bitter pill but we took it with gusto, on nothing more than a flimsy promise that it will come running in our defense, never mind if it is all a clear subterfuge. Now the US wants to saddle us with a problem we had no part in creating, and for no other reason than that we are willing. Well, I am not. And neither should you.