An economy called Taiwan

By REY O. ARCILLA
MALAYA

‘When an economy called Taiwan started acting like a neighborhood bully, I just couldn’t resist interrupting my vacation.’

I AM having my first real vacation in more than three years, enjoying the company of my two grandsons – Sean, 17, who’s graduating from high school, his brother Shane, 13, who’s graduating from elementary school, and their cousin Sabrina, 7, who just had her first communion and is finishing second grade.

I was determined not to interrupt this vacation by, among other things, writing a column… not even about the just-concluded elections which, as expected, turned out to be a frustrating exercise for many of us who truly want change.

But when an economy called Taiwan started acting like it was a full-fledged and independent state that can bully us into swallowing our national pride and dignity and trying to scare us out of our wits, I just had to put my thoughts in writing.

Our Coast Guard merely acted in defense of the national interest… the Taiwanese fishing boat was poaching in our territorial waters… it was given the customary warning but chose to ignore it whereupon our Coast Guard, in pursuance of its sworn duty to protect the national patrimony, chased and fired upon the intruding vessel. In such a situation, it was possible somebody could get hurt or killed which, unfortunately, happened.

When we apologized to and promised to compensate the family of the victim, that was enough. What we neglected to do, however, was to protest against the intrusion of the Taiwanese fishing vessel into our national territory. Who knows how often Taiwanese fishermen have been poaching in our waters before this particular incident. (We should have also protested against Taiwan’s staging as close as 35 miles off our shores a military/naval exercise which was obviously intended to make us quake in our boots.) And then this economy to the north of us had the gall to give us an ultimatum within which to apologize to it officially for the demise of one of its fishermen poaching in our waters or else…?! We should have immediately responded by asking what the fishermen were doing in our waters in the first place!

When our President Noynoy Aquino finally apologized and expressed readiness to compensate the victim’s family, the Taiwanese leader said it wasn’t enough! What is enough? He wants Noynoy to come begging on his knees for forgiveness? Get real, will you?

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Why the Taiwanese gall?

Remember how we left Panatag Shoal like a dog with his tail between his legs when China decided to occupy it? And we never went back to re-assert our sovereignty over it?

Remember how we allowed China to build fortresses on Mischief Reef which also belongs to us and we didn’t do anything about it?

Remember how we didn’t stand up to the Malaysians over the Sabah issue and when they massacred our fellow Filipinos?

Those incidents, in all probability, were in the mind of the Taiwanese when they started treating us like the craven lot that we appear to be. Have we become the patsy of the region? A pushover? Who will treat us like dirt next?

Speaking of which… there are reports that our people in Taiwan are being harassed, refused services in restaurants, denied entry into supermarkets and admission to hotels. We should do the same to Taiwanese nationals here. Nothing personal… only “what’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”… that sort of thing.

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What can Taiwan do to harm us? Expel all the 87,000 OFWs there? Can they do that? Perhaps. But will they do that? Let us not forget – our modern day heroes are there because the Taiwanese want and need them there…not out of the goodness of their heart.

Stop the reported 2,000 OFWs wanting to go there every month..? Again, the Taiwanese won’t accept them anyway if they were not needed. If they do stop recruiting our workers, we can always look elsewhere as is our wont… which should not be the case. (I have more to say on this in a future column.) For once, can we not think of doing something to keep our workers here, i.e., by creating more jobs? Aren’t we supposed to be on the upswing economically? Isn’t that what Noynoy has been bandying about lately?

Remove their investments here..? Again, let us not overlook the fact that they are here simply because they are making money… nothing more. Take out the profit and they will be out like a shot.

Can we afford to lose their business? YES, we can! We look for other investors. Having been upgraded by Fitch and Standard and Poor, foreign investors are reportedly already itching to come to our shores.

For starters, we should begin talking with China in earnest about business… in a business-like and upright manner. We have already effectively placed in the backburner our claim to certain West Philippine Sea islands and shoals that China also claims when we went to the Arbitral Tribunal of the UNCLOS. Noynoy should now give substance and meaning to what he had said about strengthening our relations with Beijing notwithstanding the arbitration process.

He should at the same time resist being influenced by any foreign power in reaching decisions concerning our foreign policy, particularly on our relations with China. The Constitution specifically prescribes an independent foreign policy for the Republic.

To be able to do this, however, Noynoy must first consider replacing his foreign secretary, Albert “Amboy” del Rosario, who appears to have made the DFA a branch of the US State Department in these parts with his one-dimensional view of our foreign policy – through Washington’s eyes.

To begin with, where in the world can you find a foreign minister who does not even speak his own national language… one who has allegedly been classified as either a foreigner or a balikbayan upon re-entering the country in the past… while he was the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the Philippines to the US at that?

The next thing Noynoy has to do is to proceed posthaste with modernizing our armed forces. He needn’t even depend on foreign assistance to do that. The most immediate and logical step he can take to make this objective become a reality is to pursue his drive against smuggling which has been depriving the national treasury of billions of pesos. There are many other revenue-generating/saving measures consistent with daang matuwid that he can resort to for this purpose.

In this connection, his bosses are asking why he was so quick to admonish those who demanded the removal of the incumbent Customs chief who has clearly failed in his job to collect money for the government. As some quarters have asked, is it because the said official is allegedly a “team player” with all that that monicker implies? That would be against daang matuwid!

One thing Noynoy should always bear in mind… if he continues to allow some of his KKKKKs (Kaklase, Kaibigan, Kabarilan, Kaeskwela, Kabarkada) to stray from the daang matuwid, sooner or later his bosses, the people, will start disbelieving him… as many are now doing.

He has only three short years, and I mean short, left in his term. He should act now and tell his team members to get their act together. Otherwise, every good thing that he has done and has started to do will all be for naught. Nobody wants that to happen… but it WILL happen if he doesn’t act NOW!

I don’t know if Public Works Secretary Rogelio “Babes” Singson is one of the Ks, but some members of the cabinet and other government officials should take a page from him. Noynoy sure is fortunate to have Babes. He is not only efficient and dedicated. He is also honest.

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Reminders (for Noynoy’s action):

1) Filing of charges against officials of the National Food Authority (NFA) during Arroyo’s illegitimate regime. Noynoy himself said on several occasions that there is documentary evidence to prove the venalities in the past in that agency.

2) Investigation of reported anomalies in the GSIS during the watch of Winston Garcia and ordering his successor, Robert Vergara, to file the proper charges, if warranted, against the former.

Noynoy should also order Vergara to report to him on COA’s findings that at least P4.13 billion in contributions and loan payments made by 12 government offices to the GSIS had not been credited to the offices as of Dec. 31, 2011. COA also said the amount of unrecorded remittances could go much higher because only 36 agencies have so far responded out of the 186 that were sent confirmation requests by government auditors. Of the 36, 27 confirmed “discrepancies” in their premium and loan payments ledgers when compared with those of the GSIS.

There are three questions being raised when remittances, or parts thereof, of government agencies are not recorded by the GSIS on time: a) Where are these huge sums “parked” in the meantime?; b) Do they earn interest?; and c) To where (whom?) does the interest, if any, go?

3) Facilitating the investigation of rampant corruption in the military and police establishments.

4) Expeditious action by the AFP on the case of Jonas Burgos.

With the mid-term elections over, it is fervently hoped that Noynoy will now act in earnest on these matters.

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Today is the 23rd day of the seventh year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

Whatever is the status of Noynoy’s directive to the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a “focused, dedicated and exhaustive” probe of what really happened to Jonas?

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From an internet friend:

An elderly couple was attending Sunday services when the wife passed to her husband a note that read: “I just made a silent fart. What should I do?”

The husband also wrote his reply that said: “I think it’s time you changed the batteries of your hearing aid.”

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Email: roacrosshairs@yahoo.com