Reynaldo O. Arcilla
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin Jr. on the recent military coup d’etat against Aung San Suu Kyi, the de facto leader of Myanmar, who is once again under house arrest:
“I pour scorn on the Western world for destroying Aung San Suu Kyi and making her a victim of the military,” Locsin told the Senate Foreign Affairs committee.
“My job is to try to put her back…the last people I would listen to is a white face on this issue…Forget the United States. We talk to China, we talk to India, we say we can go back to the status quo and we can go back and put the mother of Burmese democracy back there…I am angry because I met that woman,” he said.
“My job is to try to put her back…That’s my feeling, that’s my policy…most Asian countries are looking to our leadership, to my leadership as a more nuanced approach to the Burmese problem,” he added.
“My” policy?! “My” leadership?! Wasn’t he listening when Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said the chief architect of foreign policy is the president of the Republic after he told the latter to lay off foreign policy?
The question, of course is, did Locsin get the clearance of President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte on “his” policy on the Myanmar problem before appearing before the Senate? Apparently, he did not. He said it was “his” policy. But if he did, then there is no problem. If not, well, it would appear it’s time, past the time in fact, Digong put him in his proper place.
Let’s watch what happens.
Lorenzana on China-US friction
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana recently said the escalating tension between China and the United States on the South China Sea problem could result in a shooting war between the two.
“The recent decision of the Chinese government to arm their coast guard vessels patrolling the South China Sea has upped the ante even more, and if a shooting war happens, the Philippines, which is right smack in the middle of the conflict, will be involved whether [the country] likes it or not,” he said.
He, however, did not specify why we would be involved.
As I said in my last column, we will get involved not because we are a threat to China, but simply because we host US troops and military bases that could be used against it in the event of an armed conflict between them. As simple as that. No more, no less.
Digong had expressed on several occasions the very same sentiments even before he decided to run for president five years ago. But, a big but, does Lorenzana share his view?
That is why I fervently hope and pray Digong will see the light before his term ends and terminate the inutile Mutual Defense Treaty and its subsidiary agreements, i.e., the Visiting Forces Agreement and the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, both of which are null and void ab initio based on Section 25, Article XVIII of the Constitution.
Reminders:
As promised, the following items will regularly be featured in this space for as long as the authorities concerned do not do the right thing:
1. The notorious Smartmatic — Smartmatic won the bidding conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to refurbish its vote counting machines for the 2022 elections over the lowest bidder for what experts say are allegedly very flimsy reasons, with nary a reaction from Malacañang!
The only other bidder, Power Serve Inc. (PSI), was disqualified by the Comelec’s special bids and awards committee (SBAC) for its failure to indicate “zero” or “dash” in the relevant bid documents.
PSI’s bid of P490 million is lower by a whopping P147,443,308.45 than Smartmatic’s bid of P637,443,308.45.
PSI has appealed to the SBAC to reconsider its decision. None has been taken by it as of this writing. Will it, ever?
Is the US coming back to Subic? — About three months ago, this newspaper reported that Maritime Industry Authority Administrator Robert Empedrad, former Philippine Navy Chief, said a contract has already been finalized between Australian shipbuilder Austal and US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and will reportedly soon take over the Subic Bay yard from Hanjin Shipping, a South Korean firm that went bankrupt in 2016.
Empedrad also reportedly said the US and Australia were eyeing the yard as a possible ship repair and maintenance facility (read, naval base). He added that US and Australian naval presence at Subic Bay could bolster national security.
That would directly run counter to what President Duterte said in his fifth state of the nation address in July.
“Kaya ‘yang maglagay lagay ka ng base at this time, this will ensure, if war breaks out because there would be atomic arsenal brought in, this will ensure the extinction of the Filipino race,” he said.
A grim scenario indeed!
So, what will Digong do, or can do, if the contract is already a fait accompli?
An authoritative source suggests that the government could insist on renegotiating the contract to include a provision that “there should be a restriction that prohibits the yard from accepting any naval business, whether for repair, routine or emergency, and new construction, defining clearly the protocols. It should also prohibit the accommodation of any nuclear powered vessel, armed ships whether they are government or civilian-controlled.”
The source also said “we should get a clear picture on who the beneficial owners really are. It is just too bad that our local entrepreneurs do not have the appetite for this business.”
Fugitive Andres Bautista — In November last year, Senate President Vicente Sotto 3rd urged the National Bureau of Investigation to serve the arrest warrant issued by the Senate on former Comelec chairman Bautista for contempt for ignoring the Senate hearings into his alleged ill-gotten wealth. It was his wife who blew the whistle on him.
Bautista was earlier impeached by the House of Representatives but resigned and left the country before standing trial in the Senate. It was later found that he had fled to the US.
Shouldn’t the government seek his extradition from the US to face the charges against him? Isn’t flight a sign of guilt? Maybe his passport should be canceled to force his return?
Isn’t Bautista’s case one of corruption? So how come there has been no action on the part of the government to be consistent with its campaign against corruption?
And what about the Senate? After all, it was its arrest warrant that was defied by Bautista. Shouldn’t it at least encourage the government to do something?
* * *
From an internet friend:
A man comes running to the doctor shouting and screaming in pain.
“Please doctor you’ve got to help me. I’ve been stung by a bee.”
“Don’t worry;” says the doctor. “I’ll put some cream on it.”
“You will never find that bee. It must be miles away by now.”
“No, you don’t understand!” answers the doctor, “I’ll put some cream on the place you were stung.”
“Oh! It happened in the garden in the back of my house.”
“No, no, no!” says the doctor getting frustrated. “I mean on which part of your body did that bee sting you.”
“On my finger!” screamed the man in pain. “The bee stung me on my finger and it really hurts.”
“Which one?” the doctor asked.
“How am I supposed to know? All the bees look the same to me!”
Source： Manila Times 09-02-2021