Obama and Romney on Scarborough Row

Telltale Signs 
By Rodel Rodis

Filipino American supporters of Pres. Barack Obama, all dressed in blue, and backers of Gov. Mitt Romney, decked in red, met at the battlefield of the Redwood Shores studios of ABS-CBN on October 18 to participate in the 2012 Balitang America town hall presidential debate. Obama’s Blue Team was led by TLC Beatrice CEO Loida Nicolas-Lewis while Romney’s Red Team was championed by Mission Hope Day Program CEO Nimfa Yamsuan Gamez.

In the audience for the debate were not only the Blues and Reds but also the Whites representing the “Undecideds” whose votes, as in the general election set for November 6, would decide the outcome of the Balitang America presidential debate according to the format established by the ABS-CBN producer.

Balitang America first held this presidential debate town hall format in 2008 when I was designated the debater for the Democrat Obama and Rudy Asercion was the spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain.

What was remarkable about the town hall debate on October 18 was that virtually all the participants, including the undecided, are active members of US Pinoys for Good Governance (USP4GG) and most had participated in rallies in front of the China Consulate in San Francisco to protest China’s encroachment in the Scarborough Shoal.

Lewis is the USP4GG national chair while Gamez is an active member of its Nor-Cal chapter where Asercion and I are also members. Among the Whites in the audience were several notable USP4GG members and participants in protest rallies in front of the China Consulate including Rad Abarrientos, Victor Barrios, Ramon Bunag and Bradley Roxas.

The debate format included questions from the audience. Among those who lined up to pose a question was Romney supporter Charito Benipayo, USP4GG treasurer and Nor-Cal coordinator. She asked the representatives on their candidates’ positions on China’s encroachment on the sovereign Philippine territories of the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratly Islands.

Speaking for Obama, Lewis said that the U.S. government under Pres. Obama will stand by its Mutual Defense Treaty with the Philippines to defend the country if it is attacked by China. Gamez was not aware of Gov. Romney’s position but expressed confidence that he would also abide by the Treaty.

Unfortunately, there was no further elaboration on this issue but an extended discussion would have elicited the differences between the parties on this issue.

Gov. Romney has identified Russia as the country’s “No. 1 geopolitical foe”, a position he reiterated in his October 22 presidential debate with Pres. Obama on US foreign policy. In that same debate, Pres. Obama identified Al Qaeda and its allied Islamic terrorists as the US’ top enemy.

But Pres. Obama has his eye on another country. As William Engdahl wrote on August 24, “after almost two decades of neglect of its interests in East Asia, in 2011, the Obama Administration announced that the US would make “a strategic pivot” in its foreign policy to focus its military and political attention on the Asia-Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia, that is, China.”

When he visited Australia in December of 2011, Pres. Obama explained that “with most of the world’s nuclear power and some half of humanity, Asia will largely define whether the century ahead will be marked by conflict or cooperation…As President, I have, therefore, made a deliberate and strategic decision — as a Pacific nation, the United States will play a larger and long-term role in shaping this region and its future.”

While the US is officially “neutral” on the Scarborough Shoal dispute, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has openly sided with the Philippines in its call for multilateral talks to resolve the territorial dispute.

There is also the concern that in a Romney Administration, Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson may wield great influence. Adelson has pumped in more than $100 million to the “super PACs” supporting Romney who has met with Adelson on a number of occasions. Adelson, whose personal fortune is estimated at $25 billion and is most known for advocating for Israel, is also the largest casino owner in China. His four casinos in Macau account for half of his income.

Because Adelson could not operate his profitable Macau casinos without the backing of the rulers in Beijing, there is concern that under a Pres. Romney, the US will turn its attention away from the South China Sea towards Iran and Russia.

Going back to the ABS-CBN town hall debate, aside from their common agreement on the Scarborough Shoal, both Lewis and Gamez share another similarity. Both are willing to go against their economic interest in their support of their presidential candidates.

Lewis, the CEO of TLC Beatrice, a multinational corporation with worldwide business interests, would greatly benefit from Romney’s pledge to extend the Bush Tax Cuts to everyone including those making over $1 million a year which Obama opposes. Romney has also pledged to add another 20% cut in taxes to everyone including the top 1% which Obama charges will amount to a loss in government revenue of $5 trillion over 10 years.

Gamez .is the CEO of Mission-Hope Day Program, a business that deals with the developmentally disabled, which is funded by the California Department of Developmental Services which receives more than $1 billion a year from the federal government, which funding will be cut in the Ryan Budget Plan adopted by Gov. Romney to pay for the tax cuts to people in the income bracket of Lewis.

Both Lewis and Gamez are going against their own economic interests to support their candidates.

(Rodel50@gmail.com)