Filipinos still can’t get over being dependent on the United States for national defense

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Renato Reyes Jr says it like it’s a bad thing — that the United States possibly intends to renew its use of key military bases in the Philippines in its bid to “rebalance” troop deployment towards the region. This follows a recently-concluded meeting between Philippine President Benigno “BS” Aquino III and new Commander of US Pacific Command Admiral Samuel Locklear III on Monday, 16th of July.

Reyes seems to have all the facts

“The US plans to bring 60 percent of their warships to the region in the next ten years. The US also wants to make full use of their former bases in Subic and Clark. The US also plans on maintaining a rotational force in the Philippines, permanently based and in direct violation of the PH Constitution,” Reyes said.

But in pointing out the obvious…

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“Make no mistake, the US is only after its own interests. US and PH interests are not one and the same.”

…Reyes demonstrates an astounding lack of adult insight. As if there were any other real reason that governments do things, Mr “Secretary General”. Indeed, Reyes is merely being consistent with that all-too-familiar tagline of the broader community of Commie-infested “cause-oriented groups” that Bayan is a part of. In the mind of these “Leftists”, any government making deals with the US will always necessarily be sellouts to “imperialist” agendas…

…in light of the current dynamics now shaping the region, the leftist rhetoric is built around three basic postulates:

(1) Philippines is being used as a “pawn” of an American plan of “containment and encirclement of China”.

(2) US appetite for war is fuelled by America’s armaments industry which is seen to be a significant source of employment in its depressed economy.

(3) Philippine government “ties” with America are “exclusivist”, have a “superior-subordinate bondage” nature, and “deprive” Filipinos of a “sovereign right to self-determination”.

As such, any move by any ruling administration in the Philippines to affirm ties with the United States will always be seen to be an affront to the commie “revolution”. And as such, there will always be convenient excuses and occasions to throw paint bombs at American embassies and burn American flags.

The United States will, of course, look after its own interests first and foremost. The Philippines, for its part, is expected to do the same when negotiating with the United States. Both parties looking after their own interests does not necessarily preclude said parties settling into a mutually-beneficial agreement with each other. It’s called entering into a win-win relationship. Reyes seems to be telling us that he expects unconditional altruism in any party the Philippines gets in bed with. Well, Mr Reyes, welcome to the real world. It is a lot different from the mountain encampments you and your comrades inhabit.

The Philippines has long demonstrated a cockiness that far exceeds its ability to stand on its own two feet both economically and militarily. Recall in the early 1990s how twelve senators duly elected by the popular vote (and as such presumably representing the Filipino people’s “will”) voted to boot the American Military out of Philippine shores

Thanks to the 12 bozos who voted against US military bases in the Philippines in 1991 — Senate President Jovito Salonga, Sens. Wigberto Tanada, Teofisto Guingona, Rene Saguisag, Victor Ziga, Sotero Laurel, Ernesto Maceda, Agapito Aquino, Juan Ponce Enrile, Joseph Estrada, Orlando Mercado, and Aquilino Pimentel — Filipinos have, right in their faces today, a sad lesson twenty years in the making in what it is like to languish outside the American sphere of what is globally relevant.

…and how the Philippine economy (as much as other economies around the world) remains imprisoned by a constant flood of “affordable” Chinese products that provide that familiar illusion of affluence many consumers have come to be comfy with.

The irony that escapes most of those who now seek to demonise the Awakening Giant in our midst is that all of us created the monster that is today’s China. It is a story not too different from the one where America and the insatiable appetite for stylish personal transport that it exported to the rest of the world created the global nightmare called Arab politics. This is our version of the story in the Far East. China is the Creature from the Black Lagoon that was roused by our perverted notion of what it means to be a “prosperous” society — larger and larger numbers of us being able to “afford” more and more nice but disposable things.

If our idea of “prosperity” is to keep consuming and disposing and keeping that orgy of waste “affordable” by “outsourcing” our supply to countries like China who are able to churn out mountains of products “cheaply,” then we are headed for trouble.

Then consider how, today, the Philippines finds itself in the untenable position of having to stand up to China alone in its bid to defend its territorial claims on the Spratly Islands and Scarborough Shoal. Even in a blatant show of sneaky military presence in disputed waters by China, the Philippines has had to use kids’ gloves in dealing with the belligerent global power. Beyond that, the scariest show of force Filipinos could come up with is a fantasy map depicting China as a province of the Philippines and the hollowheads who cheer on the “artists” who come up with these images and the celebrities who promote them.

37 Replies to “Filipinos still can’t get over being dependent on the United States for national defense”

  1. A lot of these Communist-leaning “cause-oriented groups” often indoctrinate themselves with the deluded fallacy that before the Spanish arrived these islands were a utopia of sorts, where everyone was equal and where all dreams came true.

    It’s like they’re in a constant state of denial of the fact that Filipino culture today is inextricably tied to the United States. What do they want, a cultural cleansing that would remove any and all kinds of “foreign influence”?!

        1. This news was made, um, last year? You fail. TBH, you can be a comedian of sorts. 😛

          Requesting for deletion.

        2. And hey, it was an article made by ELLEN TORDESILLAS. Are you out of your mind? She’s also an immature prick like you! XD

          The likes of you are the cancer killing the Failippines. If people like you will be purged, then this country would be better.

  2. The Philippines cannot defend itself. Let us be Realists. Not only China has a big Armed Forces; and is a nuclear power. We have North Korea, Pakistan and India. All have nuclear bombs. This zone area in the Pacific is bristling with nuclear weaponries, and is full of potential conflicts.
    We need a strong powerful country, like the U.S. , to counter the balance of these threats. These threats are real. Nationalism should be set aside, for pragmatism. We are living in a dangerous world…that has seen two World Wars..and we suffered from invasion also.

  3. you are very sensible in your approach re: U.S. intentions in RP to ward off Chinese threat, or protect her own interest and Filipino interest as a bonus. yes, international politics is about the exploitation of the weak by the powerful. we cannot be choosy as a beggar country. but we have already found america with its widely-awake institutions and people receptive to our aspirations as a people. they left in 1946 so we can experiment on self-government; they closed their bases and left in 1991 in recognition of the legal right of the country to assert her own territorial sovereignty over clark field, subic and mactan airbase.

    china is a geographical sphinx, but you can see its muscle being flexed now. its needs territory and resources to feed its starving millions. despite its claim to economic boom, the countryside still wallows in poverty. it has to bully its weaker neighbors. it wants to be recognized as the ‘kingpin’ of asia for economic advantage. if RP is made to submit under its clout, the big question is, can we unyoke ourselves from its control the way we did with the americans?

    1. On second thought, KSP does have a part here. On China’s part too, I guess. But our current administration’s actions on this and all other issues seem KSP-based. That’s why they spend heavily on PR.

  4. Lets face it The Philippines need the American desperately. We are on the verge of losing our sovereignty to China. Not to mention the resources in the West Philippine Sea. I really do wish, the government should start amending our constitution to enable the US forces to be in Philippine soil.

  5. China rules the world since the world relies too much on China.

    Also, on the PH problem, we always forget that the PH is a developing country but with a Developed attitude.

  6. The US, China? Both are capitalist although the other just recently embraced it. Both are the same except we prefer the Americans because of their hollywood looks and their successful non stop portrayal of the Chinese as the bad guys in their movies. And we are a big one fan of everything that is white america. We want to look like them by changing the color of our skin and the flare of our nose. We will never be comfortable with the chinese because they don’t look like our white american idols.

    1. Best part is, OFW remittances from USA/EUROPE used to purchase cheapo Chinese products like whitening lotions/drugs.

    2. Filipinos also maintain some deeply entrenched illusions

      1) is that the 17 trillion- in-debt-to-China America is the same America they knew in the 50ies and the 60ies- the richest country in the world.

      2) Add to this another illusion created by GIs on R&R throwing money around like there’s no tomorrow ( because many of them were going to die, anyway) and the image of a strong, immensely rich white person who looks like Jesus Christ forever became imprinted in the minds of an average Filipino.

      3) Many Filipinos also believe that because you get 45 pesos to the US dollar, that the salary in the US is 45 times higher.

      “Hey Joe, give me money!” never failed in the past.

      ” Hey, Chung, give me some Yuan!” may not work as well.

  7. The US-RP relationship is just like a drug pusher-drug addict relationship. Tayo ang addict sa kasong ito.

  8. Here’s a nightmare scenario:
    If China declares a full scale invasion, while the Americans defend us, we are again caught in the middle. If China wins, we become enslaved to them, like a Chinese businessman enslaving a Filipino worker by making him work long hours and paying him below minimum wage. BUT, if America wins, they’ll probably repeat their neocolonialist plan like they did years ago.

    In short, we’re in a lose-lose situation. There’s nothing we can do about it.

    1. Duh.. as if China is going to waste its resources to fight with a troll… They dont need to do anything because they know Phils is really on a lose-lose situation. Walang armas, walang kakampi, walang tutulong.. Tatawa lang sila thats all..

  9. Better have the Amrikan, they at least have an electorate. Chinese government won’t care less what its own citizens think.

    Oh, and Bayan Muna of course is more China Muna. Do note that they haven’t let go of armed struggle, yet Filipinos are gullible enough to vote for those pigs.

  10. So many of the comments I read on yahoo philippines about the topic go along the lines of: “it’s those stupid 12 senators that kicked the US military out, they didn’t/don’t represent the filipino people”.

    I know that this is a fairly easy google question, but I thought one of you will know the answer off the top of your head. Can someone tell me, OF THOSE 12, HOW MANY WERE RE-ELECTED in the next election. And how many were elected into other positions (like estrada with vice-president and then ‘real’ president).
    Because if those 12 really went against “the will” of the people, it would only make sense that none of them were publicly voted in again for anything, ever.

  11. china is still bullying japan even though the americans are in okinawa, so even if the americans didnt leave. china would still menace us today i think.

  12. WOW , As an american married to a filipina in Mindanao with 4 children, I welcome any American assistance. Of course the only reason we want to help is because the Philippine islands offer us a quick strike opportunity against China or anyone in this region. Thats the botton line as to why we even associate with the Philppiines in general.

  13. -since the government we have, can’t protect us against foreign aggressors. then they do not deserve to govern us. We need a government that will lead our country towards greatness rather than weakness.

    -this U.S. “defense alliance” is just a band-aid, not a cure, since this “bullying” of the Philippines by our neighboring countries, will continue for as long as we remain militarily pathetic and hopelessly dependent on the U.S. for defense.

    -if we want the other countries to respect us. Then in the long run, the wiser move is to learn how to defend ourselves.

    -we need to think 50 years into the future. we cannot depend on the U.S. forever.

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