Deceitful

By Rey O. Arcilla
Malaya

New US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, flanked by US Secretary of State John Kerry, delivers remarks at his swearing-in ceremony hosted by the Secretary at the US Department of State in Washington, D.C., on November 21, 2013. US State Department

I HAD a dream that went like this:

US Secretary of State John Kerry: Philip, I want you to assume your post in Manila ASAP.

Ambassador Philip Goldberg: I would love to, Sir, but as you know my appointment paper is still with the Senate.

Kerry: I know. With the permission of the President, I have already spoken with my former colleagues in the Senate to have your appointment confirmed right away. It shouldn’t be long now.

You see, the President and I would like to have that blasted framework agreement on our increased presence in the Philippines concluded before the end of the year. It’s taking longer than we expected. We didn’t figure on the Filipinos having the gumption to stick to what they are asking.

I thought we had it all sewed up last month and I was ready to go there to sign it but… you know what happened. They are sticking to their position. It’s a good thing I had a very convenient excuse to defer my trip then… through typhoon Santi or something. When you get there, I want you to hit the ground running and take advantage of our presence there now, helping in the relief operations and rehabilitation of the victims of super typhoon Yolanda. (He obviously had in mind taking advantage of and exploiting our utang na loob trait.)

Goldberg: Yes, Sir. I do not anticipate having much of a problem convincing our Filipino friends to conclude the agreement soon. For one thing, their foreign secretary (Albert “Amboy” del Rosario), our man, had already preempted me from telling President Noynoy Aquino that they need our increased presence there now more than ever, as has been shown by our immediate response to help them in the aftermath of Yolanda.

Kerry: OK. Good luck. I am counting on you. I would like to go there next month (December) to sign the agreement.

At this point, my alarm clock woke me up for an early appointment.

***

Fast forward… Goldberg presented his credentials to Noynoy within a week of his arrival. He has been hitting the ground running since.

At the press briefing he had after his credentials presentation, he mouthed the exact same things that “Amboy” del Rosario uttered a week earlier. No surprise there, as I said in my last piece.

Goldberg further gave the assurance that the US government will continue to help in the ongoing relief operations, even as some of its personnel have already started to pull out from affected areas, which surprised many.

“The United States will remain with the Philippines as you move from the relief period into reconstruction,” he added.

How about putting your money where your mouth is? The US gave $950 million to Indonesia after a tsunami hit that country in 2004, together with the sending of the hospital ship USN Mercy.

Reports say that all we got from the US so far is the comparatively piddling sum of $60 million.

***
As expected, Goldberg wasted no time, starting with Noynoy, pitching for the conclusion “as early as possible” of the proposed framework agreement for the Increased Rotational Presence (IRP) of American forces on our soil. (Goldberg has since made the same pitch to Vice President Jejomar Binay and Senate President Franklin Drilon.)

“Let me say clearly, though, we’re not talking about bases or any kind of new bases for the United States,” he said.

We understand that. To begin with, our Constitution will never allow that unless it is covered by a treaty ratified by both parties.

However, what appears to be beyond the comprehension of the US and worse, of our so-called leaders, is that under our Constitution, not only foreign military bases (the noun), but also foreign military troops or facilities cannot be “based” (the verb) in the Philippines “except under a treaty… and recognized as a treaty by the other contracting state”.

Neither can the proposed IRP framework agreement be anchored on the Visiting Forces Agreement which is null and void ab initio, or on the PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty. The IRP must be covered by a separate treaty.

But what is particularly grating is when Goldberg said:

“This is about our capacity to help the Philippine government and military as it advances in many areas in its own interests.”

The Philippine government’s own interests?! Only?! Come on!

Why can’t the US government admit that its “pivot” to this region is dictated solely by its own interests… by the emergence of China as the most dominant power in the region and her apparent aggressive designs to lord it over these parts?

Oh sure, we can accept the fact that we need the US to keep in check Chinese aggressive designs, but please don’t expect us to believe that you are doing what you are doing for our sake alone. And that, therefore, we should accede to everything that you want to protect your interests?

Any arrangements between the two of us must be mutually beneficial and must take into account our interests, especially in the long term. You dig?

So please… and this is addressed as well to our naïve leaders… stop taking the Filipino people for suckers. Those days are long gone. Stop spinning the yarn that only the Philippines stands to benefit from the increased presence of US troops and facilities on our soil as it will give us a more credible defense posture. That’s being deceitful!

In fact, it is the US that needs a more credible defense posture in these parts by “basing” (again, the verb) more troops, equipment and other war materiel, very likely including nuclear weapons, on our soil to discourage the Chinese from embarking on more aggressive ventures. (Incidentally, the Japanese are kicking out US troops in Okinawa. To be moved here?)

And the claim that Del Rosario first brought up – that “one of the purposes, the main purpose of the proposed IRP framework arrangement is to make humanitarian assistance and disaster relief and response a very major aspect of the agreement”, is pure hogwash.

Some senators have already expressed their disagreement that such a need called for an increased presence of American military forces on Philippine soil. And they are right. The rather swift US response to the Yolanda aftermath belies Del Rosario’s assertion.

Senator Juan Ponce Enrile also said that the possibility of a major disaster hitting the country in the future was not a justification for the entry of foreign troops here. (What we need to do from now is improve our capability to cope with such disasters. We have the money.)

***

When push comes to shove between the US and China, who gets to be walloped first? We do! Precisely because of the presence of US military troops and facilities here!

Any agreement for the basing (once again, the verb) of US troops and facilities here, to be mutually beneficial should, in my view, be anchored on the following:

1) The agreement should be embodied in a treaty ratified by both parties as prescribed by our Constitution, not in a mere executive agreement;

2) Rental of $2 to $3 billion annually, in cash, for the use of our military bases;

3) Immediate settlement of what is rightfully due to all our WWII veterans commissioned by the US government;

4) The agreement must be for a maximum of five years only, with either party having the right to terminate it before the end of that period;

5) Everything that is brought in by the US and still in place at the expiration of the agreement must be left behind and become ours, just as they did in Iraq;

6) No nuclear weapons or materiel should be brought into the country (no more of that “neither confirm nor deny” bullshit); and

7) Clean up their toxic wastes when they leave.

Our negotiators insist on equal access to places where US troops and facilities will be located. Okay… that too.

***

On November 27, the DFA spokesman said that the deployment of China’s lone aircraft carrier, Liaoning, to the West Philippine Sea raised tensions and threatened the stability of the region.

Two days later, Noynoy said he saw no security threat with the aircraft carrier deployment. He said the Chinese have admitted that Liaoning is not yet fully operational.

“Is it two or three years before they believe that they will be fully operational? That means they’re learning carrier operations, both the crews onboard, the planes and also the pilots who will be flying the planes. So they are transiting here, because they are not yet operational. Why should anybody consider it a threat?” Noynoy wondered.

I’m sure the DFA spokesman had the clearance of Del Rosario before he made that statement. The question is did Del Rosario have Noynoy’s clearance?

***

Last week, I wrote that it may be a bleak Christmas for the GSIS rank and file this year. It still looks like it up to this writing (Dec. 9).

The GSIS employees’ union has written the GSIS Board of Trustees asking it to convey their request to the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) to approve the granting of their Traditional Christmas Bonus which is based on the generated income of the pension fund.

“Based on the latest media/press releases on GSIS earnings, the President and General Manager Robert G. Vergara pronounced (sic) much better revenue this year than the P92 billion earned last year.

Should the 2,600 employees of the GSIS are each given P50,000 or even P100,000 as Traditional Christmas Bonus, this would only require a minimum 0.16%-0.28%, or less than 1% of the total earnings.

This is a pittance which the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) can neither label as abusive nor excessive. The GCG is not strict when it comes to bonuses for the rank and file employees. Besides, the GCG was created not to guard the rank and file but to curb the abuses/excesses of the Heads of Offices as well as the Board of Trustees,” the employees’ union wrote.

Speaking of the GCG, it came under criticism recently for approving P1 million bonus for 2012 for each member of the SSS Board of Directors and about P1.25 million for each of the GSIS Board of Trustees members.

I wrote about it in this space which the GCG acknowledged. It also promised to respond to my query about how much each GCG commissioner receives in per diems and how often they meet. I also asked how much bonus, if any, they have given themselves in the past.

No reply up to now. Like all other government agencies and officials that come within my crosshairs, the GCG is now just playing “dedma” (Ignoring).

***

For lack of space, the “Reminders (for Noynoy)” portion of this column will be resumed next week.

***

Today is the 212th day of the seventh year of Jonas Burgos’ disappearance.

***

From an internet friend:
A state trooper pulled a car over and told the man driving that he was going 50 mph in a 40 mph zone. “I was only going 40!” the driver protested. “Not according to my radar,” the trooper said. “Yes, I was!” the man shouted back. “No you weren’t!” the trooper said. With that, the man’s wife leaned toward the window and said, “Officer, I should warn you not to argue with my husband when he’s been drinking.”

***

roacrosshairs@outlook.com
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