I see that President
Aquino is taking some flack for saying he may ask the U.S. for air coverage of
the areas of the West Philippine Sea that are in conflict with China.
The
uber-nationalists are blaming him for giving up Philippine sovereignty to the
U.S. The harshest view, surprisingly enough, comes from the usually calm and
rational blogger Ellen Tordesillas:
- Aquino’s solution of asking the United States to do the monitoring through their spy planes over those disputed islands is tantamount to ceding sovereignty over to the United States. That’s treason.
I think this is a
tad hysterical. It seems bizarre to me to declare it treasonous to seek ways to
protect Philippine territory and interests. If it is treasonous to lean on an
ally then I wonder what Great Britain was doing during WW II.
Here's the link to
the full article: ellentordesillas
re sovereignty
China of course
pounced on the President's remark for its daily rant against the Philippines.
Listening to the big, fearful, quaking China, you would think that the
Philippines has aimed nuclear missiles at Beijing. China displays the
diplomatic nuance of a thug with its jock twisted a little too tight.
So both Ellen and
China are ragging on the President. Strange bedfellows.
(Quick digression:
Inquiring minds want to know if the famous roast duck is now called Beijing
roast duck, or what? I have not been in a Chinese Restaurant since I was forced
to slurp chicken feet soup and eat goose liver in Hong Kong back in, oh, 1995. We
had Peking roast duck then, as I recall.)
Another article
parsing Mr. Aquino's choice of words was penned by journalist manuelbuencamino
on propinoy.net. He is his normal wry
self, querying:
- As for Beijing, I wonder what it will do if the US does conduct surveillance flights over the disputed areas with or without any request or permission from the Philippines. Is it going to shoot down those planes?
The full article is
here: manuelbuencamino
re China
Well, I've been
critical of President Aquino's lose lips on this matter. I think he should let
his foreign affairs people speak on this incident and reserve his comments for
serious moments, like when the Philippines issues an ultimatum to China to get
its warships out of Philippine territory. I offer that little bit of advice to
STRENGTHEN the President, not weaken him.
 |
| The Worm Has Now Turned, eh? http://philippines1900.tumblr.com/post/263328179/drama-and-sedition |
The policy ought to
be to keep military craft out of the contested areas. We don't want Chinese
military occupation of what we consider to be our territory and we presume
Bullyboy China feels the same way. So keep the stinkin' guns out of the
contested zone until the matter is resolved.
I guess that's what
I don't understand about the hue and cry against President Aquino from certain
hystericals. You would think HE is the enemy, not China.
This seems to me to
be reflective of the Filipino penchant for declaring that if someone does it
differently than they would do it, that person deserves to be attacked. Brought
to the ground, as it were. It's a win/lose world in the merry Philippines. You
are for me or against me, and if you are not for me, you deserve to go DOWN.
It also seems like a
grand inferiority psychosis to me, that any active engagement with the U.S. is
somehow a threat to Philippine autonomy. I guess you don't give the Philippines
and Filipinos much credit, eh? You figure the Philippine officials will automatically
kiss Uncle Sam's ass rather than work for the good of the Philippines? They
will automatically become pawns to American interests?
Such a low opinion
you have of Filipino intelligence, strength and ability to act on behalf of the
Philippines.
People who don't
trust U.S. motives don't trust President Aquino, I guess. They don't trust
ANYBODY but themselves.
That's bad thinking,
especially for people who ought to be stock full of Pinoy Pride. If we RESPECT
that the President has a big challenge on his hands here, we'd recognize he
needs our backing for whatever avenues he and his staff pursue. He doesn't need
backbiting. He needs benefit of the doubt. And our trust.
Let me make clear to
Ellen and her group of like thinkers what she must not have considered. Mr.
Aquino is not the enemy here.
China is.
When Chinese
warships are parked in Subic Bay, are you going to declare it treasonous to
seek American assistance?
It strikes me that
the more that Filipino opinion leaders criticize and undermine the President,
the bolder China is likely to become.
So, let me ask . . .
call it aggressive curiosity, not accusation . . . where REALLY does the
greater "treason" rest?
With those seeking
ways to defend the Philippines? Or those aiding and abetting China by
undermining the Philippine President?
