MALAYA
‘He will only accentuate the world’s perception of the Philippines as nothing more than a client-state of the US, especially at this time.’
THERE has been a cacophony of voices coming from all sides on the Spratlys issue in the last week or so, but none of them belong to Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario.
As Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, Senators Franklin Drilon and Joker Arroyo and Speaker Sonny Belmonte, among others, said, it should be the DFA which should be talking about the controversy in public. Aside from a speech he made a while back, nothing has been heard from Del Rosario on the matter.
Maybe he is not consulted often enough by President Noynoy Aquino and/or he does not take the initiative to advise Noynoy on what to do or say about the controversy as the situation evolves.
Otherwise, why would Noynoy himself or his coterie of spokesmen, uninitiated as they are on foreign affairs, be making all the noises and committing bloopers in the process?
So now, what does Del Rosario do? He goes to Washington, ostensibly on invitation of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. For what? To seek a reassurance of the undying commitment of the US to stand by us in case of Chinese aggression? He will only be wasting his time and the much-depleted DFA budget on a useless trip. (This will be his fifteenth foreign trip since he assumed office less than four months ago.) He will also unnecessarily accentuate the world’s perception of the Philippines as nothing more than a client-state of the US, especially at this time. Of course, he is only being true to form, being an Amboy (American Boy).
The official reasons given for the trip are to shop for military hardware under the US Foreign Military Sales program, talk to legislators about some save industries bill and to get the Philippines off the list of countries involved in human trafficking. Hey, he doesn’t have to go there to do all of that. We have an ambassador who is there for that purpose.
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The US Embassy spokesperson’s recent statement on the Spratlys issue – “that the US does not take sides in territorial disputes” – elicited so much negative reaction against the US from the uninitiated among us that US Ambassador Harry Thomas found it necessary to issue his own statement:
“I want to assure you – on all subjects, we in the United States are with the Philippines. The Philippines and the United States are strategic treaty allies. We are partners. We will continue to consult and work with each other on all issues, including the South China Sea and Spratly Islands. We will do whatever we’re asked. What we want to say is right now we believe consistently that is not something for us to do. We have not been asked to do that. And we can’t deal with hypotheticals.”
Wow, such a long and convoluted way of saying the same thing – “US does not take sides in territorial disputes”. Neat.
Ah, but it had its intended effect. The uninitiated all heaved a sigh of relief, including Noynoy who said:
“We are grateful to the (US), especially when they reiterated that we are strategic partners, we have a treaty between us.”
Grateful?! For what?! Geez!
Next time, perhaps he should risk consulting with his foreign secretary first before uttering such knee jerk reaction – when the latter is around, of course.
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I believe it is time for our so-called leaders, particularly those in government, to understand and bear in mind one thing and one thing only:
With or without a Mutual Defense Treaty or a VFA or what-have-you, the US will only act in our defense or that of a third country when their vital national interest is threatened. Human rights, freedom, democracy? They have set those aside when it served their national interest. Witness their actions on Vietnam, Iraq, the Philippines during Marcos. History is replete with their duplicity when it comes to promoting and protecting their national interest. I hasten to add, however, that the US is not the only one which has done that or will do that. That’s just the way of nations, as it should be ours!
So, if the US feels it will be in her interest to side with the Philippines in a confrontation with China over the Spratlys, she will. And my take is that she can ill afford to leave the South China Sea area dominated by a single power and will do everything in her power to prevent that from happening. On the other hand, I do not believe China would want to risk possible confrontation with the US at this time over the Spratlys.
In any case, at the end of the day, we can only rely on ourselves. Ironically, our so-called leaders, both in the public and private sectors, know that! And they know how we can do that. Sadly, however, they are blinded and overcome by self-interest and greed. Others, by plain ignorance and ineptitude.
What to do then? Noynoy’s bosses, the people, should tell him to shape up or ship out. Don’t waste any more time going about what he set out to do – make this country worthy of its name again!
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Recently, I wrote about the DFA renting a property for an embassy in Baghdad reportedly at a cost of US$70,000 annually. That’s fine, except for the fact that we have not had a diplomatic mission in that capital for the last seven-odd years. That’s more than P21 million of people’s money gone to waste!
To make things worse, Gloria Arroyo, upon the recommendation of Del Rosario’s predecessor, appointed an ambassador to Iraq, Bayani Mangibin. He left in April of last year but never went to Baghdad. Instead, he set up office in Amman, Jordan, where we have a resident ambassador.
Mangibin and his staff of five are still ensconced in Amman as of now. In the meantime, the Jordanian Government had already indicated they are no longer welcome there. Nakakahiya!
So, what did Del Rosario do? Instead of having the anomaly of the embassy premises in Baghdad investigated, he reportedly instructed his future ex-undersecretary for administration Rafael Seguis (who should have done something about the Baghdad premises when he assumed office in July last year but did not) to go to Baghdad with two others in tow ostensibly to assess the political and security situation there.
To assess the political and security situation there? After seven years? Geez, just read the CNN and other wire services reports. They are replete with information that Seguis’ team cannot possibly gather in a few days. And isn’t that what Mangibin was supposed to be doing in the first place?
If someone has to go, it should be Mangibin. Why does it have to be Seguis? Why unnecessarily spend scarce resources again when Mangibin is there precisely to do those things?
(Incidentally, many believe it is about time Seguis accounted for the expenses he incurred in securing the release of Angelo dela Cruz and Roberto Tarongoy by Iraqi abductors sometime in mid-2000. It has been alleged that millions of dollars was paid as ransom, euphemistically called “board and lodging”, for the two.)
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If Del Rosario insists on sending Seguis to Baghdad, he should not assign Mangibin elsewhere yet, which is what he reportedly intends to do. Instead, he should wait for Seguis’ report. Then decide on what to do with Mangibin. If the report says we should re-establish our embassy in Baghdad, then Mangibin and his staff should be instructed to finally move there. They have had more than a year of paid vacation doing virtually nothing in Amman. They should serve some time at least in Baghdad.
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There are reports that the situation in Tripoli, Libya, is getting dire. Shortages of vital commodities, including food are reported. There are also reports that NATO aerial bombings have hit civilian areas where people have been killed.
Since there is nothing more that Ambassador Alejandrino Vicente and his staff can usefully do there to protect OFWs who have chosen to remain in the country, it behooves Del Rosario to heed the recommendation of the Middle East Affairs office in his Department to allow Vicente and his staff to move, for the time being at least, to the Tunisian border.
God forbid a NATO bomb going astray and hitting Vicente or his staff there. It will be Del Rosario’s fault and his conscience will suffer for it. In the meantime, one can only imagine the anxiety that their family members are going through. That’s cruelty on the part of Del Rosario.
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There is a proposed bill that would prohibit the appointment of retired military and police officers to sensitive civilian positions. Appointment to the foreign service should be included.
In this regard, Noynoy would do well to reconsider the appointment of Domingo Lee as ambassador to China. A more experienced person should be appointed at this most critical period of PH-China relations.
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Reminders (for Noynoy’s action):
1) Filing of charges against the previous administration’s National Food Administration officials for the anomalous importation of rice. (Noynoy himself said there is documentary evidence to prove the anomaly.)
The report that the NFA lost a mind-boggling P100 billion in the last 10 years should spur Noynoy to go after those responsible for that grievous crime against his bosses, the people.
Noynoy referred again to this anomaly in his June 12 address. So how come no case has been filed against the alleged perpetrators one year later?
2) Facilitating the investigation of the rampant corruption in the military, including the recently uncovered anomaly in gas allowances.
3) Expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.
4) Preliminary investigation by the Department of Justice of the graft complaint filed late last year by Bayan Muna against Gloria Arroyo in connection with the aborted $329 million ZTE-NBN deal.
5) Investigation of the reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and the scandalous allowances and excessive benefits the members of the Board of Trustees allotted themselves (P11 million each) in 2009 alone.
Reports that the GSIS has stopped giving housing loans to members due to lack of funds gives urgency to Noynoy ordering the new GSIS management to act expeditiously on cases to be lodged against Garcia.
People are anxiously waiting for cases to be filed against Winston Garcia by the new GSIS management. Naunahan pa sila ng PAGCOR.
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From an internet friend:
A pirate walked into a bar, and the bartender said, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in awhile. What happened? You look terrible”. “What do you mean?” said the pirate, “I feel fine.”
“What about the wooden leg? You didn’t have that before.”
“Well”, said the pirate, “We were in a battle, and I got hit with a cannon ball, but I’m fine now.”
The bartender replied, “Well, OK, but what about that hook? What happened to your hand?”
The pirate explained, “We were in another battle. I boarded a ship and got into a sword fight. My hand was cut off. I got fitted with a hook, but I’m fine, really.”
“What about that eye patch?”
“Oh,” said the pirate. One day we were at sea, and a flock of birds flew over. I looked up, and one of them shit in my eye.”
“You’re kidding,” said the bartender. “You couldn’t lose an eye just from bird shit.”
“It was my first day with the hook…”
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Today is the 54th day of the fifth year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.
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Email: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com
