More reactions of high school students toward our new president

(Part II)

We pray that Pres. Rodrigo Duterte stays home to do his homework instead of touring other countries in Asia. The travel bug really hit him, since he attended the APEC conference in Laos. He went to Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam then jumped over to China, now Japan, almost every other day. He may know Davao but he needs time to get acquainted with the different regions of the whole archipelago of the Philippines.

How could you Mr. President ...?

Diana Lope, 15 years old: Typhoon Lawin created havoc all over Northern Luzon. Why did you leave us? With a wind blast of 225kph to 315kph ripping through northern Luzon, trees were uprooted, roofs were torn away and landslide descended from mountain ranges. With houses in shambles, farms and roads flooded, communications downed and darkness engulfed Kalinga Mt. Province, Cagayan Valley, Isabela, coastal provinces of Quezon and Ilocos. Farmers and fishermen were at a loss. They desperately needed the assurance of the government led by you. Even your Cabinet men were dumbfounded by this unexpected colossal wreck.

Duterte’s China debut sparked distress around the world

Joel Altea VI, 16 years old: President Duterte has recently arrived from his four-day state visit to China. While there, he announced something that shocked the nation and the world – the separation of the Philippines from the United States of America. To most Filipinos this is unthinkable because of the close ties our two nations have with one another. He stated this without consulting anybody. No one at all, not even his Cabinet secretaries know of this “separation.” The president must remember that he is not the sole person responsible for the foreign policy of a nation of 102 million Filipinos. He must remember that he cannot disregard the current treaties we have with America like the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.

While in China, President Duterte also announced that the Philippines should be forming a triumvirate with China and Russia “against the world.” The President should be forming alliances that will “help the world” not against the world.

These statements imply that he has no knowledge whatsoever of the art of diplomacy, an art that world leaders have to master for one wrong move may end in a disaster.

Jan Gabriel Pagdanganan 16 years old: Trying to ally with China and Russia is controversial. Beijing’s entire nine-dash claim over nearly all of the South China Sea in spite of the Philippines being awarded sovereign rights under UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

China also violated Philippine fishing rights by preventing Filipinos from fishing in Panatag, which is part of the common fishing ground of Scarborough, as declared by The Hague Arbitration Court. (As Philippine STAR columnist Amy Pamintuan stated: Duterte’s choice of allies is baffling. Beijing is battling corruption at all levels. Russia has been plagued by cronyism, inefficient state capitalism and gangster activities.)

Jan hopes Duterte can change the way he expresses his thoughts. Not all can understand his emotions which cloud his messages.

Shanley Jose, 15 years old: It has been six months since during which our newly elected President Duterte has been trying to win his war against drugs. Now he’s asking for a year. Daily we are showered by TV and newspaper reports of so-called drug addicts or drug pushers being killed. It makes me think: Is the President insensitive, inconsiderate and violent?

Rika Cruz, 16 years old: The endless killings in the Philippines is simply barbaric. Is it really the right way to cleanse our country by soaking us in a bloodbath? It doesn’t make us feel safe. The citizens are not at ease and at peace when what they see first thing in the morning corpses laying on the streets with a piece of carton labeled ‘drug pusher’ and a tiny packet of shabu with it.

Lorenzo Querol, 16 years old: Controversies of these ‘extra-judicial killings’ started to rise as more than 3,800 have been killed and more than 700,000 have surrendered. This stirred the global conscience about the human right to life. It is spiritually unacceptable to kill a person when one can be merely wounded to prevent any retaliation.

A bitter-sweet administration

Eira Coline Resurreccion, 16 years old: I call this administration, bitter-sweet, due to what’s happening in and out of our country. It’s bitter because the President is impulsive and goes out of control when reminded of his missteps – even by the European Union or the United Nations.

Lei Mei Sing, 15 years old: Despite his strong character as a leader and a lover of the country, the President can be very crass – saying exactly what he thinks even if it seems unprofessional. A leader must also welcome criticism, but Pres. Duterte doesn’t take this very lightly – especially when his attention is called by foreigners. In fact, they are entitled to their opinions and mean well because our politics affect theirs just as much as theirs affect us. He is strong-willed but has a low emotional quotient.

Top U.S. diplomat for the Asia-Pacific Region seeks clarification

Let me quote a news article from a daily newspaper written last October 25, 2016, “Mr. Duterte sparked diplomatic alarm when he announced during the state visit to Beijing last week his ‘separation’ from the United States and realignment with China.”

In response, US Asst. Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific Daniel Russel immediately rushed to Manila last Monday and conferred with Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay. Since his election, Mr. Duterte has displayed antagonism toward America, declaring his desire to scale back military engagements while both Philippine and US military forces were engaged in training at Crow Valley, Capas. Then he called US Pres. Barack Obama names.

The Duterte administration, however, has not formalized his public declaration to remove US counterterrorism forces from Mindanao and stop large scale joint exercises involving American forces, creating confusion even among his Cabinet officials. “Upon returning home the day after his stunning remarks Mr. Duterte said he did not mean he is severing diplomatic ties with Washington but only wanted to end a foreign policy that was overly oriented toward the United States.”

Mr. Russel told reporters last Monday, “I pointed out to Sec. Yasay that the succession of controversial statements, comments and a real climate of uncertainty about the Philippines’ intentions has created consternation in a number of countries, not only mine … not only among governments but also … in other communities, in the expat Filipino community, in corporation boardrooms as well.”

He also said that while Washington welcomed the relaxation of tensions between Manila and Beijing under Mr. Duterte, the rapprochement should not come at the expense of the United States or other nations. Mr. Russel said, “This should be addition and not subtraction.”

‘We have always treated the Philippines as an equal and a sovereign country’

Earlier last week, at the despedida reception of outgoing US Ambassador Goldberg hosted by Babes Romualdez for MOPC, I expressed my admiration to Mr. Goldberg for being a true gentleman as he behaved kindly to President Duterte despite the offensive remarks to his person. A true gentleman and diplomat! Meantime, Mr. Goldberg reiterated that “the United States’ commitment to the Philippines remains as strong as ever during the turnover of C130-T military plane to the Philippine Air Force at Villamor Airbase on Monday. Goldberg said, “On our part we have a very strong sense that the Philippines is an ally and a friend. We have a strong commitment to its defense.”

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