President Benigno S. Aquino and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP should take a more assertive action to defend our country’s sovereignty in the ongoing feud between the Philippines and China over the disputed islands in the South China Sea.
China has recently stepped up its actions to press its maritime claims by sending more military vessels within the disputed areas.
President Aquino, on the other hand, apparently is doing the opposite. Aside from doing nothing in terms of negotiation with China, he ordered all Philippine navy vessels in the disputed areas to pull back on the pretext that the ships were threatened constantly by typhoons.
It is known to all our neighboring Asian countries that we are not capable of defending the disputed areas in the South China Sea. Most of our weapons are outmoded and our military aircraft and vessels donated by the United States, are either obsolete or second-hand.
In 2012, a bloody confrontation between the Philippine Coast Guard and Chinese coast guard almost erupted. Our coast guard tried to apprehend Chinese poachers in the Scarborough Shoal, about 124 nautical miles from Manila. They however were prevented by heavily armed Chinese Coast Guard from arresting the poachers. It must have been hard for our maritime security sailors to “turn their cheek the other way” to avoid bloodshed knowing that they were both outgunned and outmanned.
But what is hard to swallow was an insulting story which came out recently from a Chinese newspaper which described the Philippines as a “cry baby” for seeking international support in protest against China’s island building.
Chinese officials were so cocky that it said the Beijing government does not need to apologize to anyone or will it justify its ongoing construction works in the South China Sea which they claimed belongs to them.
China has claimed sovereignty over most of the resource-rich and strategically important South China Sea. China is claiming ownership on the disputed maritime territory based on the “nine-dash-line. The Philippines, on the other hand, uses the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, as the basis of its claim.
In an effort to deter China from further doing reclamation activities in the disputed areas, the Philippine government, as usual, is seeking military assistance from The United States. President Aquino is asking America to increase its military presence in the country and its coastal waters through expanded and frequent military exercises.
I wish we have a leader who should be man enough to stand up and tell the Chinese to stop its incursion into Philippine waters. President Noynoy does not have that kind of personality or leadership, especially in times of crisis. He has proven that so many times before.
President Noynoy was nowhere in sight during the Manila hostage crisis when eight Hong Kong tourists aboard a bus were killed in Luneta by a disgruntled cop. It was DOTC Secretary Mar Roxas and Fred Lim, who was then Manila mayor, who were in charge of negotiating with the disgruntled cop.
He was also nowhere during and after Typhoon Yolanda hit the southern part of the country. About 6,300 residents in the area were killed. Again, it was Roxas who did cover for Aquino’s absence. And most recently, the Mamasapano massacre where 44 police commandos were slaughtered by Muslim rebels in Mindanao. All President Aquino did was blame other people, except himself.
Senator Chiz Escudero was right in saying that President Aquino should convene the National Security Council (NSC) to draw up plans to counter China’s aggressive acts in the South China Sea. Escudero’s proposal was prompted by satellite photos showing that the Chinese had made recent construction in seven reefs and shoals in the Spratly archipelago.
This is the best time for all Filipinos to come together as one, regardless of political or religious affiliations. Chinese incursion in Philippine territory is a threat to our sovereignty as a nation.
AFP Chief Gen. Gregorio Catapang Jr, also voiced his concern over the “show of force” the Beijing government is doing in the disputed areas. He is right in saying that what China is doing in the South China Sea will not only limit freedom of navigation but would eventually capitalize it for military purposes.
I doubt if America will lift a finger to stop China from claiming the disputed territory. The U.S. government owes a great deal of money from China. The Beijing government bailed out the United States from the brink of bankruptcy by lending trillions of dollars to resurrect its dying economy.
The Philippine government has sought international arbitration before a Netherlands-based tribunal to counter China’s massive claim over the South China Sea. The Philippines also filed a case against China with the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea Tribunal. Hopefully, this ongoing dispute could be settled amicably instead of resorting to a bloody war, in which the Philippines has no chance of winning against the giant neighbor, which is an emerging economic and military giant.