“Why do we rely on foreigners to defend us against external threats?”, the President’s sister, Sen. Imee Marcos, baited AFP chief of staff Carlito Galvez in a recent hearing on foreign relations. A prudent question, according to Francis Bacon, is half wisdom. Imee’s question maybe such because half it of carried its own answer. When the AFP,she went on, is “bulok” naman?
Her question was raised apparently in the wake of more bases ,or sites, if you will, now made available to the Americans under the US-Philippines enhanced defense capability agreement or EDCA. Galvez didn’t say it’s China or its more aggressive moves in the West Philippine Sea. EDCA, he said, is precisely to modernize the AFP, obviously a diplomatic deflection rather than a straight forward engagement.
Was Madam Imee’s question meant to boost the country’s bargaining power?
The new EDCA sites have touched a raw nerve in China, no doubt a rising hegemon in the world, slowly swallowing parts of the WSP under its fictitious nine-dash-line and threatening invasion of Taiwan sometime in 2027. Imee, chair of the Senate foreign relations committee, should be the first person to know these.
So, the US is willing to spend or invest more than $100 billion to modernize the AFP to make it a stronger weapon against external threats. Translation: China and its bullying tactics. Perhaps, more?
Decades ago, when her family was sent to exile after the 1986 People Power Revolution, twelve senators decided to kick out the Americans from the Philippine bases. Mt. Pinatubo did the final job. The so-called Magnificent 12 forget a law in physics : nature hates a vacuum. So does China. The nine-dash-line emerged after that and soon China went on its merry way of militarizing parts of WPS it says, and continues to do so, is part of the line that has been declared non-existent and illegal by the international body countries, including China, created.
Now many think that decision was wrong, as shown by China’s defiant moves in the WPS.
But there’s another reason the new EDCA sites are necessary and critical to the Philippines’ survival, let alone the US. Galvez didn’t say what it was. Instead, it was a prominent member of the opposition who did ,one from the start who didn’t another Marcos to be president, one who has real championed the Arbitral Tribunal ruling that parts of the WPS China claims are the Philippines.
Former Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said that new sites are vital not only in military sense, but in economic sense,too. The Malampaya Well, which provides gas fuel for electric plants in the Philippines, will dry up in three years. Meaning, unless a new well is built, the Philippines will go dark or electricity will be like gold for a country deeper in debt.
There is Reed Bank in the WPS that can provide the solution. Except that China bans the Philippines, which owns it, from making any drilling attempt in the area. Carpio said the new sites will ensure that the country can have access to the area because of the new arrangement of a joint US-PH patrol in the` WPS. Other countries like Australia and Japan have indicated their interest to join the two countries. It can ignore, or defy, the dragon on the waves.
If and when Imee convenes her committee for another hearing on the EDCA sites, it will be good if Carpio is invited . Het can provide other valuable information to her on why the Philippines need a foreign country like the US, the old-time hegemon, to provide military support to protect its economic security and resources.
Her brother is scheduled to make a state visit this month to the US upon the invitation of President Joe Biden.It can only strengthen their alliance against China’s aggression in the South China Sea. The talking points have been prepared. Expect China to react negatively. It has made its way into the WPS, it has been saber-rattling in the space, both sea and air, between Taiwan and the Mainland. Marcos will see the repercussions of his state visit beyond the “out of context” remarks uttered by its ambassador in the Philippines vis-a-vis EDCA.
The new alliance Marcos has forged with the US is responsible for the braver front the Philippines is putting up against China’s aggressive posture in the WPS. It proves better than his predecessor’s policy of non-resistance, even subservience, to China anchored on fear and fawning awe. Having another hegemon, a proven and reliable ally, to face another who claims to be friendly but acts differently has its own advantages.
The senator sister may need more inputs from her brother and president., assuming the sibling rivalry is just old-time political intrigue,
Marcos’s state visit to the US comes a time when Biden is poised to make his reelection bid in 2024. Biden’s reelection slogan”it’s to finish the job” fits well with his new achievement of bringing the Philippines back as full-pledged ally in Southeast Asia. It should boost his bid, adding his huge support for Ukraine war versus Russia as another persuasive argument as non-compromising democratic leader of the world.
It’s mutual, too. Marcos will have its own political bragging rights after the visit. It should resonate and energize politically for one who’s dreaming of a better future for the Philippines. He has his own job to do. And six years, as many in politics put it, is too short for a good one. Robin Padilla is just waiting in the wings. His colleagues in the lower House are already settled. An amended Philippine Constitution, whatever that means, may sound too good to refuse, if not inevitable. Even Carpio may have a new perspective about Marcos.
By the way, Imee’s question may provide a fitting theme for the next state-of-the-union address of his brother. It won’t be a kampai, the way it used to be.
