Reynaldo O. Arcilla
USING his own words, the above title is addressed to Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin Jr. to quit, like yesterday, as Foreign Affairs secretary with his head bowed in shame if he has an iota of delicadeza (dignity) flowing in his veins.
In a tweet, Locsin said, “China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see… O…GET THE F**K OUT.”
He was referring to the continued presence of Chinese coast guard, militia and fishing vessels in our territorial waters in the South China Sea.
After President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte admonished him just because we have a problem with China doesn’t mean we can be rude and disrespectful to it, Locsin immediately apologized for his gutter language but made matters worse for himself when he clarified his apology was for his Chinese counterpart only, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, whom he claimed to be his “friend” and not to the Chinese government.
“I’m sorry for hurting his feelings but he’s alone,” he said.
How can he even say that? He told China, not Wang, to “get the f**k out.” How does he think President Xi Jinping and the Chinese people in general must feel?
At binola pa si Wang!
“It’s been my elusive dream to copy until I attain in mind and manner the elegance of Wang Yi. His opinion alone matters. He mentored me in my Myanmar understanding and response. I went to China to get his advice before the Asean leaders’ summit and followed it to the letter,” he said.
(Did he also consult and seek the advice of his Boss Digong and “follow it to the letter”?)
Finally, desperate to justify his crude outburst, he said “usual suave diplomatic speech gets nothing done.”
And did he accomplish anything with his vulgar remark except to show to the world the kind of diplomat he is? “Top diplomat” pa, according to local mainstream media! We wonder how career diplomats in the DFA must feel.
As Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, who must have had approval of Foreign Minister Wang, said in a press briefing, “we hope certain individual from the Philippine side will mind basic manners and act in ways that suit his status.”
Ouch, that must hurt! But we doubt it! As a reader put it, “makapal talaga ang apog n’yang si Tweeterboy, being the Amboy, oligarch and Yellowtard he is.”
DFA contradicts Digong on arbitral award
The big question now is what will Digong do about Locsin? People are wondering what it is that’s keeping him from firing the weirdo despite the many contrary views he has been taking with respect to the government’s independent foreign policy thrust.
Recently, soon after Digong said the PCA arbitral award was nothing but a “piece of paper” he would throw into the wastebasket, Locsin’s DFA immediately issued a statement contradicting what Digong said. The functionaries in the DFA couldn’t have done without instructions from Tweeterboy, could they?
“The President’s statement at the 75th UN General Assembly on the 2016 South China Sea arbitral award stands as the supreme expression of foreign policy on the West Philippine Sea issue,” the DFA said.
On the other hand, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana agreed with Digong the award was a worthless “piece of paper” that can be thrown into the trash can.
So does this space for the simple reason China neither agreed nor participated, a conditio sine qua non, in the arbitration proceedings, thus rendering the arbitral ruling null and void ab initio.
Locsin and passport revolving fund
In January this year, Locsin bandied about the Passport Revolving Fund was “gone” and the DFA’s arrears to APO Production Unit, the country’s passport printing contractor, had reached P388 million.
He said the fund was “eaten up by travel allowances, insurance and miscellany.”
Sec. 17 of Republic Act (RA) 8239, or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, states:
“SEC. 17. Passport Revolving Fund. – The Department may charge a service fee of not more than two hundred fifty pesos (₱250) for such service rendered to applicants relating to the processing and issuance of passports requiring special consideration, waiver or issuance beyond regular office hours. The service fees received by the Department under this SEC. (sic) shall constitute a revolving fund to be called the “Passport Revolving Fund” which may be utilized by the Department for the improvement of its passporting and consular services and other Department services except travel and transportation allowances and expenses.”
It will be noted from the above provision of RA 8239 that the DFA may use the Passport Revolving Fund (PRF) for the improvement of its passport and consular services and other department services “except travel and transportation allowances and expenses.”
Sec. 17 also requires the Secretary “to submit a report on the disbursement of the fund every six months to both the Senate and the House Committees on Foreign Relations.”
In order to replenish the PRF, Locsin said, “I am cutting off foreign travels. There’s tons of money there. No more conference trips. There’s Zoom. I stopped building renovation and capital expenses. Government needs every peso for vaccination.”
But first, Locsin should be asked to explain why he violated the provision on the disbursement of the PRF under RA 8239. The DFA budget always has an allotment for official travel and allowances. Why was the PRF used instead?
That, we submit, is the first question Malacañang should have asked Locsin.
The other question is, has he been submitting a report on the PRF disbursement every six months to the Senate and House foreign relations committees?
Have the authorities concerned, such as the Commission on Audit or the Department of Justice, conducted an investigation of this apparent irregularity, anomaly if you will, Locsin is responsible for? If not, why not? Is he really a sacred cow in the Cabinet of Digong?
China should start behaving like true friend
China professes to be our friend. But friends don’t do what it has been doing — entering and staying in the exclusive economic zone of another without permission. Such action gives rise to misgivings about its true intentions.
Is it any wonder then China’s main adversary, the United States, along with its cohorts in the European Union, Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, keep harping on its alleged evil designs against its small neighbors?
Transparency in Chinese largesse
The Yellowtards and the opposition in general keep harping on the allegation Digong ditched the arbitral award for economic largesse from China which they claim never materialized.
We believe the government would be well-advised to itemize and make public such assistance, loans, grants, etc. China has given us so far and the conditions attached to them for the sake of transparency and to dispel any doubts that may linger in the mind of critics and people in general.
Reminders
– Locsin said review of the VFA has been taking place between Philippine and US officials. “Review”? Digong’s position is abrogation. Why does it have to be reviewed? Is that the instruction from his Boss? Or is it one of “his” policies too?
– What are the government and the Comelec doing about the petition of the lowest bidder that lost to Smartmatic in refurbishing its vote-counting machines? 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 but no action has yet been taken by it as of this writing.
– What is the government doing about the reported return of the US military to Subic Bay through the agreement between Austal and US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management to take over the Subic Bay yard from bankrupt South Korean firm Hanjin Shipping?
“Kaya ‘yang maglagay-lagay ka ng base at this time, this will ensure, if war breaks out because there would be an atomic arsenal brought in, this will ensure the extinction of the Filipino race,” Digong said.
And who can forget Digong’s immortal words uttered before a group of businessmen in Tokyo, Japan, in October 2016:
“I want to be friends with China. I do not need the arms. I do not want missiles established in my country. I do not need to have the airports to host the bombers. I have declared I will pursue an independent foreign policy. I want, maybe in the next two years, my country free of the presence of foreign military troops. I want them out.”
That was over four years ago. He only has a year left to fulfill his vow. Will he ever before his term ends in June next year?
Digong has always maintained the Armed Forces of the Philippines can fight insurgents and Muslim extremists without American help.
“Do we need America to survive as a nation? Do we need the might and power of the military of the United States to fight our rebellion here and the terrorists down south and control drugs? If we can’t do it, we have no business being a republic,” he said.
– What action is being taken by the government to have fugitive ex-Comelec chairman Andres Bautista extradited by the US?
Republished from : Manila Times 11-05-2021