Our government received last February the delivery of the first batch — 600,000 doses — of Sinovac’s CoronaVac; it was a donation, and we accepted it. I remember the 1972 movie “The Godfather” when Vito Corleone said “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.”
The recent presence of 200 foreign fishing vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef in the West Philippine Sea is a clear act of intimidation. They have occupied our country’s exclusive economic zone, ignored our diplomatic protest and refused to leave the area, while around the same time they delivered the second batch of 400,000 doses of vaccine.
They are obviously preparing for the occupation of the Julian Felipe Reef and are evidently applying “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu: “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive… If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that they may grow arrogant.”
As an aside, the Russian government’s meddling in the 2016 US presidential election should be an eye-opener to us, because next year we will have our own presidential election and who knows, a foreign espionage agency might snoop into our electoral process and launch a disinformation campaign against the presidential candidate of the opposition— another act of deception.
Going back to our problem in the West Philippine Sea, occupation first takes place followed by annexation. As Sun Tzu further states: “To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.”
JOBET GARCIA PAULINO
San Juan City
jobetpaulino@gmail.com