What do we do with a country that has become the No. 1 bully in Asia right after its transmogrification into No. 2 strongest economic power on Earth?
May I suggest the following:
- Revive and update the Reserve Officers Training Corps program and the Pre-Military Training.
- Order the immediate mobilization of all reservists up to age 85 (this 85-year-old citizen will thus be included) for training.
- Include in the annual joint US-Philippine military exercises a training for Filipino soldiers in the handling, use and firing of missile weapons.
- Add to the US war materiel assistance program a sufficient number of missile weapons for the defensive use of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
- As in World War II, organize a mosquito fleet of PT boats and small naval crafts that will pester and ring around the big naval vessels of China in case of war. (During peace time, we can use this fleet to patrol our shores.) For this purpose, especially after the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law (which I also support), we can recruit our brother Badjao and Tausug and other skillful seafaring Filipinos from the Visayas and Luzon.
Remember what the then-new small country Israel did, surrounded as it was by hostile Arab countries? Israel built a very effective defense system which it also uses as an offensive system when circumstances warrant.
Remember also North Korea after armed forces of the United Nations countries ganged up on that small nation? It embarked on a massive buildup of its military for modern defensive warfare, yet flexible enough for use as an offensive war machinery and as a deterrent for its enemies.
Let’s adopt the remarkable defensive and survivalist policies of these small nations, without of course adopting the oppressive and dictatorial governance policies and practices of North Korea.
There is nothing wrong about preparing for war. Every country worth its salt or history should be prepared for war, even as it works for peace and for a flourishing, inclusive economy. America, the strongest power in the world, is always prepared for war, so are many other countries in the world. This is the realistic and pragmatic approach. And if we are forced to do battle and fight it out with a mighty nation, why not?
Remember the 1939-1940 war between Finland and Russia? The Russian leaders in Moscow expected Finland to surrender within two or four weeks. To the surprise of the world and the embarrassment of the Russian empire, the outnumbered Finns fiercely resisted and fought the vastly superior Russian military invaders; the war lasted for more than three months. In fact, the Finns defeated the invading Russians in many key battles. To save face, Russia ended this war with the Moscow Treaty of Peace.
Remember also the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-1905. A victorious Japan forced the Russian empire to abandon its expansionist policy in the Far East, becoming the first Asian power in modern times to defeat a European power.
In both cases, history showed that a small nation can stop the expansionist policy of a powerful big empire.
Update: Look at small Taiwan, which until now defies the very powerful mainland China.
So fight, if we must. Let us be moved by our instinct for survival and the principle of territorial imperative.
—EDMUNDO H. ESCALANTE, retired judge and former president of IBP Sorsogon Chapter