‘Fox disguised in sheep’s clothing’

Our Constitution says, “The State shall pursue an independent foreign policy in its relations with other states, the paramount consideration shall be national sovereignty, territorial integrity, national interest, and the right to self-determination” (Section 7 of Article II of the 1987 Constitution).

However, in dire pursuit of a “talawan” foreign policy, this administration allows China to threaten our national sovereignty, our territorial integrity, our national interest, and stifles our right to self-determination. It refuses to challenge China’s surface and undersea military buildup in the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys. It permits China’s Coast Guard to harass Filipino fishermen and the
defenseless citizens of the island municipality of Kalayaan in the West Philippine Sea. As a nation-state, we have here a clear case of surrender to an international bully.

This administration, nonetheless, further allows the recent encroachment into Philippine territorial integrity by enabling China’s access to the rich fishery resources and unexplored undersea wealth of our Unclos-awarded 13-million-hectare Philippine Rise under the guise of a sea-based research. In simple terms, this misguided Filipino leadership had unwittingly enabled China, a greedy foreign power, to gather sensitive security information and maybe plan another military base, this time situated in the East Philippine Sea. China, yes a friend of this administration, is truly a fox disguised in sheep’s clothing.

As a nation-state, we hold sacred our shores and our territorial integrity. Out of the 120- million strong Filipinos, we are blessed with strong-hearted nationalists, hewn from the mold of Andres Bonifacio, who have the courage to criticize a lopsided foreign policy of an irresponsible leadership. I believe that our people do not deserve a tyrant, and we do not accept slavery as a way of life either. I have deep faith in the innate goodness and bravery of the Filipino. He will not fail his people, he speaks up and will respond in defense of his homeland in times of need.

JAIME D. RANESES, Barangay Pio Del Pilar, Makati City