No debt of gratitude owed to China

I totally agree with Solita Collas-Monsod that Filipinos should not feel they owe a debt of gratitude to China for its vaccine donations, or for that matter for any seemingly friendly assistance it has extended or plans to extend to our country (“A victory for tobacco, a defeat for our children,” Get Real, 5/29/21).

This “utang na loob” chant that President Duterte touts as his motivation for pursuing a policy of appeasement toward China is just a smokescreen for his real intentions, which are nowhere close to love of country and concern for the welfare of the Filipino people. I cannot, of course, read the mind of Mr. Duterte, but as an ordinary citizen I am able to observe facts and events during this administration that stare us in the face and easily debunk any notion that the President’s partiality toward China, or more precisely toward Xi Jinping, is driven by nationalism.

Look at some of these facts and how Mr. Duterte can only manage to respond to them with deafening silence: the massive invasion by Chinese Pogos of our communities and their corrosive moral effects and rising criminality spawned by their presence; the mysterious entry of huge drug shipments from China through the Bureau of Customs that was never prosecuted, and the likely entry of more of such shipments; the meteoric rise of presidential crony Dennis Uy who has built a business empire in such a short period of time, and who has partnered with Chinese investors to gain a strategic foothold in the country’s telecommunications and natural gas industries; the onerous infrastructure contracts the government has entered into with China and, in the case of Kaliwa Dam, the displacement of indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands.

And look at how his apologists, led by the sycophantic spokesperson, fumble and lie in defense of Mr.

Duterte’s untenable position on the West Philippines Sea, even resurrecting the disgraced Juan Ponce Enrile in a desperate attempt to gain public support.

There are rumors and speculations that Xi Jinping has long given his assurance of support to the continuing stay in power of the Dutertes. The coming national elections will truly be a test of our people’s political maturity, and if there is enough of it to save the country from a failed leadership that we ourselves allowed in 2016 to lead the country into a treasonous and ungodly path.

DONATO SOLIVEN
Antipolo City
[email protected]