Reynaldo O. Arcilla
PRESIDENT Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte’s ambassador to the US, Jose Romualdez, revealed the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) has been “revamped,” and he is confident the President will see “marked improvement in the terms of the agreement.”
Why does Romualdez, a Yellowtard and known Amboy (American boy), seem to be preempting Digong by saying the agreement has already been “revamped” and that Digong will come out with a decision soon. Was he given the authority to say that?
He even preempted his direct boss, fellow Amboy and Yellowtard of a foreign secretary Teodoro “Tweeterboy” Locsin, Jr. who, by the way, seems to have finally heeded Digong’s directive to shut up on the South China Sea dispute.
Romualdez reportedly did not mention what revisions had been made, but said the terms now agreed were “acceptable” and “mutually beneficial.”
In whose judgment? His or Washington’s? Looks like both.
It is no secret the US wants the VFA to remain. But as Romualdez should know, Digong is still pondering over the matter and has even said he would want to consult the Filipino people on it before deciding, with the national interest uppermost in his mind.
Just to be clear, the VFA governs the behavior of US troops while in the Philippines. They shall be tried only in Philippine courts of ordinary jurisdiction once they commit a crime and, if found guilty, shall be incarcerated in a local jail. Among other things, we do not want to see a repeat of the Smith and Pemberton cases, do we?
Logic and reason, therefore, dictate once the VFA is abrogated, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) would have to be too. EDCA calls for the stationing of US troops in five “agreed locations” in the country on a rotational basis without rental or similar fees.
The “agreed locations” are: Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija, Basa Air Base in Pampanga, Benito Ebuen Air Base in Cebu, Antonio Bautista Air Base in Palawan and Lumbia Air Base in Cagayan de Oro.
Worse, EDCA also allows the US to stockpile in “protected areas” in the country military equipment, arms and ammunition that may include nuclear weapons. The Constitution specifically prohibits the presence of such weapons in the country.
That would leave the Mutual Defense Treaty as inutile as it was from the very beginning since it has not lived up to its raison d’etre (purpose) on several past occasions in the defense of our national interest, including the modernization of our armed forces. So, it too would have to be abrogated.
To be fair, however, it is not entirely the fault of the US the treaty has not lived up to expectations. Our past leaders failed to deal wisely with Washington in upholding the national interest. As a result, where we were once next only to Japan, we are now lagging behind most of our Asian neighbors economically and militarily, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam.
The bottom line is the presence of foreign troops and military bases on our soil will only serve as a magnet for attack by an enemy of the US with whom it is in armed conflict.
Biden to meet Digong ‘at some point in time’
According to Romualdez, US President Joe Biden hopes to meet Digong in person “at some point in time,” meaning at the former’s convenience, to reassure the latter of the strong relationship and such platitudes between our two countries.
“Maraming mga pangyayari na lumalabas naman na talagang for the United States, the Philippines is still an important ally, and they would like to keep that,” Romualdez said.
Ah, ganoon… eh kung hindi na tayo importante sa kanila? At sila naman… have they ever proved, really proved, their importance to us?
After five years in office and lots of vitriol thrown at Washington for its lousy treatment of a “loyal and faithful” (read “stupid and subservient”) ally, we are sure Digong knows Biden would come bearing gifts of more military aid and other largesse, including Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine, to try and convince him to retain the VFA.
The gesture would be too late. For one, Digong has since decided to no longer depend on the US to modernize our armed forces. Reports are that he has decided and has since been buying arms and military equipment from different countries like Hungary, Turkey, Israel, South Korea, Russia, China, etc. The Americans used to frown on our doing because it wants us to be forever dependent on them. Look where it brought us.
The last time we tried to procure weapons for use by our military and police forces in liberating Marawi from terrorists, the US Congress stopped the sale because of alleged human rights violations by our security forces.
Speaking of Pfizer, we hope Digong has forgotten what he said at the beginning of the year “no vaccine, no VFA” and “you want VFA, you pay.” Both statements are already passé.
Lately, the US, echoed no less by Romualdez, has been bandying about 7 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine to be distributed to 15 countries in Asia, including Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
The US-Asean Business Council (US-ABC) in Washington noted “586 million people live in these six Southeast Asian countries alone.”
“While we applaud this symbolic step forward of donating 7 million vaccine doses to Asia, it is largely a drop in the bucket,” said Alexander Feldman, chairman, president and chief executive of US-ABC.
In the meantime, had we not been able to secure Covid-19 vaccines from China and Russia, not to mention their generous donations, we would be in a worse situation than we are now.
Review, evaluate PH-China ties also
Last week, we suggested the convening of the National Security Council, or a body to be created by the President for the purpose, to make a thorough review and evaluation of Philippines-US ties which is long overdue.
After giving it some thought, we believe a thorough review and evaluation of Philippines-China ties would also be in order. The same body could undertake the task right after it’s done with the Philippines-US ties.
How China can ‘make friends’
Chinese President Xi Jinping says he wants to “make friends” with the world. That’s easy enough to do as far as our part of the world is concerned.
Stop intruding in our, and its other neighbors’, territorial waters and exclusive economic zones as defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) without permission!
The same goes for the US and other powers.
We owe US for return of Balangiga bells?
Our Senate passed a resolution last week thanking the US for returning to us the Balangiga bells.
Why ever for? To begin with, we have been demanding the bells’ return decades ago. The Americans only did so two years ago. Parang utang na loob pa natin. Ano ba ‘yan?
Two years ago, mind you. Why the resolution only now? So, the sponsors, hopefully, would earn brownie points from the US with the next national elections less than a year away? Just asking.
Incidentally, the resolution was initiated by the member of the Senate with an American name, Richard Gordon, who earlier reportedly said he believes he is one of the “most qualified” to become the next Philippine president.
Republished from Manila Times 08-06-2021