War drums are beating and it is not only coming from the direction of the Mainland but, lately, from no less than the President of our Republic.
While not necessarily war talk, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s pronouncement stressing the urgency of shifting the Philippine military’s focus to external defense is certainly one way of stating the obvious: The geopolitical situation in the Asia-Pacific has indeed changed.
Pointing out that the country’s boundaries are being put into question, Marcos said the Air Force has a big mission to fully secure the country in light of the “intensification of the competition between the superpowers.”
It is a well-known fact that the United States and China have both been saber-rattling over issues involving the South China Sea, which is being claimed in its near entirety by Beijing. Washington, on the other hand, has been emphasizing its freedom of navigation rights in the disputed waterway and has stated in no mean terms its readiness to protect its allies, including the Philippines and Taiwan, from Chinese aggression.
Marcos did not offer specifics nor mention China in his speech in Cebu over the weekend but he stressed that, despite being a relatively small country, “we still have to fight for the rights of every Filipino because the Philippines is a sovereign nation and has a functioning government.”
His speech came two weeks after he summoned China’s ambassador to protest the use of a military-grade laser by the Chinese coast guard that briefly blinded some of the crew of a Philippine patrol vessel in the West Philippine Sea.
While the Philippines condemned the 6 February incident – one of the more than 200 diplomatic protests it has filed against Beijing’s increasingly assertive actions since last year – China in turn accused the Filipino ship of intruding into its territory. It said its coast guard used a harmless laser to track the Philippine vessel, a claim that Manila dismissed.
In his first State of the Nation Address last year, Marcos, without referring to Beijing, used some strong words in describing his foreign policy, saying he “will not preside over any process that will abandon even a square inch of the territory of the republic to any foreign power.”
It was a line more firm and assertive than any by his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, a pronouncement that in a survey was seemingly welcomed by most Filipinos who indicated their mistrust of China.
Under a 2014 defense pact with the United States, Marcos recently approved a wider US military presence in the Philippines by allowing rotating batches of American forces to stay in four more Philippine military camps. That’s a sharp turnaround from Duterte who feared an American military footprint would offend Beijing.
China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Brunei have been locked in an increasingly tense territorial standoff in the South China Sea, where US Navy ships and fighter jets have been carrying out patrols to promote freedom of movement, challenge Beijing’s expansive claims, and reassure allies like the Philippines.
The disputes have intensified after China turned seven contested reefs into missile-protected island bases to bolster its claims. The disputed waters have indeed become a possible Asian flashpoint and a delicate front in the US-China rivalry in the region.
Marcos’s recent statements may not necessarily please Beijing, but it looks like he has no choice.
Pushed back to the wall by China’s bullying tactics, the man has chosen to be backed up by an old ally, hoping to get some bargaining chips that could more or less allow him to beat his own war drum.
Now if only all sides could hear out Boy George and his Culture Club. There’s nothing to gain in war. It is stupid.
That’s all he has to say about it.
e-mail:mannyangeles27@gmail.com