Uncle Sam signals support for Leni

A number of our readers wanted to know what was the basis of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) for revising the date when the Philippine-American War ended. Earlier I had asked the NHCP the same question. Christine G. Dulnuan, senior history researcher, sent me this reply:

“This is about your inquiry concerning the Philippine-American War historical marker which mentioned the end of the War from the American-centric 4 July 1902 to Filipino-centric 15 June 1913. The American government declared that the Filipino ‘insurrection’ ceased upon the surrenders of Aguinaldo and Miguel Malvar on 23 March 1901 and 16 April 1902, respectively. However, Filipino historians argued that the war against the US continued through the efforts of Luciano San Miguel himself until he was killed in action on 28 March 1902, Simeon Ola in Bicol until his surrender to the Americans on 25 September 1903, Macario Sakay until his surrender, and execution in 1907, Felipe ‘Apung Ipi’ Salvador and his Santa Iglesia in Central Luzon until his execution by the Americans in 1912, the Dios-Dios and the Pulajanes in the Visayas, and the Muslim resistances which lasted at the infamous Battle of Bud Bagsak in Sulu on 15 June 1913. This periodization has been adopted by the NHCP in its museums … This gesture makes the Filipinos’ war against the US inclusive rather than Luzon or Tagalog-centric.”

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In recent weeks, a number of US diplomatic appointments were announced covering nations in the Indo-Pacific region. Among them were representatives to Quad member countries: Japan, India, and Australia. Perhaps the most prominent was that of former Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel who also served as White House chief of staff during the Obama administration. He was named US envoy to Japan. “Quad” stands for Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, a strategic grouping of four nations—the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. Established in 2007, it was dissolved a year later when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd decided to withdraw from the alliance. In 2017, during the Asean Summit in Manila, it was re-established by US President Trump, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The primary objective of Quad is to counter Chinese military and diplomatic actions in the Indo-Pacific region advocating a rules-based maritime order.

For the first time, Australia will have a woman ambassador from the United States. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg, daughter of the late President John F. Kennedy, was nominated for the post. She was also the first US woman ambassador to Japan, serving from 2013 to 2017. Incidentally, her aunt, Victoria Kennedy, widow of Sen. Ted Kennedy, was also appointed ambassador to Austria. The most recent nominee to a Quad country is Eric M. Garcetti, a former Los Angeles mayor. The grandson of Mexican immigrants, he finished at Columbia University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. One thing in common about these appointments is that all three ambassadors are political appointees coming from outside the career service of the State Department. All three are Democratic Party heavyweights.

Last week after the Manila post had been vacant for more than 15 months, the United States finally filled it up with the nomination of MaryKay Carlson as ambassador to the Philippines. A career diplomat since 1985, Carlson is the second US woman ambassador to the country following Kristie Kenney who served from 2006 to 2009. This will be her first posting as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The new envoy has a college degree in Spanish and International Studies, master’s degrees in International Relations from Georgetown University and in National Security Strategy from the National War College. Her husband is a retired foreign service officer. They have two daughters. Carlson is fluent in Spanish and Chinese.

The announcement by President Joe Biden of another lady envoy to the country comes at almost the same time as the official start of our presidential election campaign, a not-too-subtle signal for Leni Robredo. On May 9, the Filipino voter is faced with a crucial choice — to go along with Joe Biden, or to kowtow to Xi Jinping. There is a third option available: the difficult, demanding, and uncertain path of self-reliance that in the end, will allow him to discover the true strength of his people.

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