Attaining strategic autonomy

The Chinese threat over our sovereign territories, our national security and economic well-being is serious and persistent. Beijing’s intention towards the Philippines is less than noble and nothing will give Beijing more satisfaction than to see a weaker Philippines buckling down to its will. That said, we must strengthen the nation’s core so as not to be vulnerable to China’s destabilization offensives and their attacks to hamper, hinder and harm our national interest.

By strengthening the nation’s core, I mean minimizing dependencies and eliminating security risks. In short, attaining some degree of strategic autonomy.

Let’s face it, no matter how diplomatically savvy the Philippine government may be, we are still a sitting duck due to our reliance on foreign sources for food, fuel and basic manufactured goods. We are unable to credibly defend ourselves (yet) without the help of our allies. We are unable to modernize our infrastructure without foreign financing. We are unable to support the economy without the remittances our OFWs bring. These vulnerabilities can and will be exploited by the adversary.

To be truly resilient, we must build and/or strengthen our industries towards self-reliance with special emphasis on agriculture. This is fundamental. We must also achieve some degree of strategic autonomy in defense-related manufacturing (which is practically non-existent), energy, capital markets and export-related industries.

I am well aware that pundits like me have been saying this for years and politicians have never failed to chime -in in agreement. But the situation today is different. Our security and way of life are under threat by no less than the second most powerful nation in the world. We must act with resolve and urgency this time.

Certain members of the private sector have stepped up to the plate. Metro Pacific Agro Ventures, Inc. will soon commence operations of the country’s biggest dairy farm with an output of six million liters of milk a year. It has also invested P1 billion in a greenhouse built to have an output of 1,600 metric tons of vegetables a year.

Initiatives like these are a good start but there is a long way to go to achieve food security. We must do more because the Department of Agriculture, under the current leadership, is a non-performer, with farm outputs even contracting by 3.3 percent.

A good start would be to break the agricultural syndicates that have prevented our agricultural sector from flourishing. These syndicates are not composed of private individuals alone but also involve government agencies within the DA. Due to lack of space, I will not elaborate on how the syndicates operate – that deserves a piece on its own. Suffice it to say that our leaders are well aware of it.

The point I want to make is that we do not have the luxury to kowtow to self-interest anymore. Neither do we have the luxury to work within the framework of legislative processes to eliminate the laws and bureaucratic hurdles that stand in the way of agricultural development. Going this route could take decades. The need is urgent. That said, Malacañang’s use of emergency powers to accelerate reforms should be considered. For more complicated reforms, convening an emergency Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) is an option it should exploit. Like I said, building a resilient agricultural sector and a strong economy is a matter of national survival.

We must all acknowledge our vulnerabilities. The biggest mistake we can make is to take our time in strengthening our core. None of us want to be caught flat-footed.

Eliminate the risks

Just as we must work towards greater self reliance, so must we eliminate the threats in our midst.

I recently listened to a talk delivered by Brian Poe Lamanzares, the son of Senator Grace Poe. Brian brought to light certain security risks. For a young man, I have always been impressed by Brian’s grasp of pressing national issues.

The first risk involves electricity. The National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) has the mandate of operating, maintaining and developing the government’s power grid. But unbeknownst to many, the NGCP is 40 percent owned by China through its state-owned company, the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC).

Chinese engineers have control over key elements of NGCP’s transmission system. In fact, National Transmission Corporation president Melvin Matibag testified before the Senate that SGCC may be able to turn the power off in the Philippines if it wanted to. This should worry us all.

The second risk relates to telecommunications. Dito Telecommunity is a consortium between Udenna Corporation and Chinatel, a state-owned company of China. Chinatel owns 40 percent.

Chinese law mandates its state-owned companies to submit intelligence to the Chinese government. So it goes without saying that the Chinese are able to engage in surveillance operations on Philippine affairs using Dito’s system.

The third risk relates to our water. China entered our water sector through a loan agreement. In 2019, the Duterte government secured a $283.2-million loan from China to build the New Centennial Water Source – the Kaliwa Dam Project. The project is comprised of three dams that augment Metro Manila’s water supply by 60 percent.

What is suspect is that a Chinese contractor, China Energy Engineering Corporation (CEEC), was selected to build the dam. According to the Commission on Audit, during the bidding process of contractors, the two other bidders were included merely to satisfy the three-bidder requirement of the procurement law. Furthermore, COA noted that CEEC had already begun deploying technical equipment and conducting preliminary activities at the project site even before the formal Notice to Proceed was awarded to it.

The need to recognize the threats to natural security and the need to eliminate them cannot be over emphasized. This warrants an investigation and swift action from our leadership.

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Email: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aj_masigan