There’s the Rub
‘Nang dahil sa iyo’
By Conrado de QuirosThe good news is that we have a president who won’t be cowed by bullies. President Benigno Aquino III made it abundantly clear in his Independence Day speech last Wednesday.
The good news is that we have a president who won’t be cowed by bullies. President Benigno Aquino III made it abundantly clear in his Independence Day speech last Wednesday.
President Benigno Aquino III’s Independence Day speech on Wednesday was unusual for two significant reasons: He read it in Liwasang Bonifacio, in honor of the revolutionary supremo Andres Bonifacio, and he based his current reading of the meaning of independence on the prospect of external security risks. In other words, on China’s escalating aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
What can legally be said about the incursions of Chinese fishing and other vessels into Philippine waters? The first thing, of course, is to look into the laws that govern the seas.
Today our attention is on the Ayungin Shoal in the Spratlys. Fortunately we have presence in this particular area, with Navy personnel stationed on a grounded Philippine Navy vessel, the BRP Sierra Madre. But certain actions have to be taken to strengthen our position here.
Really, it’s enough to tempt even the patient observer to ditch the diplomatic niceties. China, through its Ambassador to Manila Ma Keqing, has raised concerns over “the Philippines coming up with structures, additional structures, on Ayungin Shoal” in the Spratly Islands, according to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. In a report, Gazmin further quoted Ma as saying that China is continuously monitoring Philippine troops in the area or whether new structures are being built.
I would like to make some important clarifications on the statements made by Amando Doronila in his May 29 column titled “Taiwanese fishermen provoked Coast Guard into firing.”
The latest incursion into Philippine territory by Chinese warships and fishing vessels has been at Ayungin Shoal in the Spratlys, one of hundreds of islands, reefs and atolls in the archipelago.
We seldom buy newspapers but on May 23 my son, Ron, came with the day’s Inquirer issue in hand. I started reading the paper and suddenly I was reading Ceres Doyo’s column (“Becoming the world’s most bullied”). I liked the column and I praise Doyo for her opinion. I agree that we are the world’s most bullied nation.
At the rites marking the 115th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, President Aquino announced a P75-billion upgrade for the service. It is a necessary investment, but hardly sufficient. In terms both absolute (number of ships in service) and relative (in proportion to the size of the archipelago), the Navy is the weakest in the region. But at least the country’s naval force seems to have finally sailed out of the doldrums of fiscal and strategic neglect.
Walk softly and carry a big stick. Theodore Roosevelt’s dictum of practical diplomacy works only if a big stick is handy, like a powerful navy that has just circled the world. In the matter of the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Philippines does not wield anything that can be mistaken for a [...]
Last Feb. 19, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, through Ambassador Ma Keqing, sent a diplomatic note to our Department of Foreign Affairs that it was rejecting the Philippine notice to arbitrate and the statement of claims on the West Philippine Sea controversy. This was the arbitration resorted to by the Philippines to challenge the legality of China’s nine-dash lines under the compulsory and mandatory dispute settlement procedure of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). This effectively means that China has snubbed the arbitration and will not participate in the proceedings.
President Aquino’s suspiciously prudent stance on the presence of minesweeper USS Guardian inside Philippine territory pales in comparison to his hysterics over China’s claim to the disputed islands in the South China Sea (West Philippine Sea). Mr. Aquino’s position further reveals his administration’s inconsistencies in dealing with the issue of sovereignty. He has no qualms to show off that his government’s loyalty and interests are with the US government—to the detriment of Philippine sovereignty and people’s rights.
