By DUCKY PAREDES
MALAYA
MALAYA
“The US, our constant ally, has given us a few of their surplus ships. That is our present defense capability against a full-sized Chinese navy itching to earn its battle scars.”
No matter how one looks at our country’s capability to defend itself, the clear answer is that we have about as much capability as we had in 1941, when the Japanese Army took us over in a few weeks.
We have no defense capability. If we had any sort of capability to defend ourselves, we would not be having Communist insurgents running all around our countryside, collecting “revolutionary taxes” from landlords and businesses. Neither would we have the Abu Sayyaf and other bandits with their own chosen territories.
We lost our capability to defend this country when, in a fever of excessive, unbridled (and without thinking) nationalism, our Senate kicked out the American bases on September 16, 1991.
The US Bases in Clark and Subic and other US installations actually kept our neighbors and the rest of the unfriendly world at bay. Any attack on the Philippines would be considered as an attack on the United States as stated in our mutual defense treaty with the US. That still stands, of course.
Today, the Chinese Navy controls what we call the “Western Philippine Sea” and which China still refers to as the “South China Sea,” and which China treats as its own, having planted the Chinese flag firmly on Scarborough Shoal. Clearly, China will continue to claim other parts of “their” sea. What can the real owner — the Philippines — do, anyway?
The US, our constant ally, has given us a few of their surplus ships. That is our present defense capability against a full-sized Chinese navy itching to earn its battle scars.
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Recently, on his third visit (the first in July and then in December) the commander of the US Pacific Command (USPACOM) discussed with our defense and military officials the tension in the West Philippine Sea. They met behind closed doors.
Visiting USPACOM commander Adm. Samuel Locklear III discussed Phlilippine-US defense and military relations with Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Armed Forces chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista and Navy chief Vice Adm. Jose Luis Alano. Anne Marie Sta. Ana, DND public affairs acting chief, says that the US and the Philippines reaffirmed the importance of bilateral relations with the emerging traditional and non-traditional security challenges in the Asia-Pacific region.
“The admiral discussed how the US could contribute in enhancing the capability of the AFP in meeting emerging security challenges to include maritime security,” said Ms. Sta. Ana.
“Admiral Locklear also gave assurance that in spite of the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, the US remains committed to its policy of rebalancing to Asia, emphasizing that the rebalance includes political, economic and military aspects.”
Locklear reiterated that the US remains concerned about developments in the area. For instance, the presence of Chinese ships near Ayungin Shoal is causing inconvenience to Filipino troops deployed aboard the grounded Navy landing tank ship, BRP Sierra Madre.
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Still, no matter what we do, even to increasing our military budget way beyond our capabilities to improve our fighting capability, that would not even be enough.
One congressman who wants to wants to increase the 2014 budgets of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to upgrade their capability against external and internal threats, is Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento.
“We need to fast-track the AFP modernization in the light of the increasing challenges in the West Philippine Sea and the continuing problem against terrorists and communist insurgents,” he says.
“The country appears helpless in its efforts to safeguard the integrity of the country’s sovereignty and the loss of lives resulting from the recent ambuscades perpetrated by the NPAs and the Abu Sayyaf bandits.”
The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on national defense and security sees the need to accelerate the AFP modernization program and augment the capabilities of the PNP’s internal security programs.
Under the 2013 General Appropriations Act, the DND is allotted a budget of P80.61 billion, while the overall funding for the Department of the Interior and Local Government is P92.35 billion.
What we will need, if we will seriously build up our defense capabilities to the point that no country (even a China) will think of sending even just a single battleship into Philippine waters is several times our present national budget.
The other thing that we can do is to rely on our most constant ally, the United Sates, to once again act as our Great White Brother.
What does that tell us about the real import of what our Senate did on September 16. 1991?
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The Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) has filed a case against the government with a view of doing away with the system that has given us the best elections we have ever had in this country.
AES officials, led by Fr. Joe Dizon, say that this is the first step to end the use of PCOS machines starting with the 2016 elections.
AES plans to file on Thursday a separate or supplemental case with the Ombudsman to investigate incumbent Comelec officials led by Chairman Sixto Brillantes, who are immune from lawsuit while in office, for the massive failure of the PCOS machines in the recent elections, which would serve as a basis for their impeachment.
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I just hope that AES Watch will be ready to answer complaints about “dagdag-bawas” and other such shenanigans that the Comelec’s computerization (no matter how imperfect it has been) seems to have abated. In fact, why not give the job of running our elections to those in AES Watch, NAMFREL and other NGOs. They have been the constant critics of the Comelec after every election. Why not give it to them so they can show us how elections should be run? Or will we be getting nothing but complaints from them and explanations about how they tried their best, but…
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Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@gmail.com or you can send me a message through Twitter @diretsahan.
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