A costly provocation

BACKBENCHER
Rod P. Kapunan
1/28-29/2012



Puppet states having a sense of decency always try to keep under wraps their uncomplimentary status because they still want to be accorded a degree of respectability by the international community. They strive to keep that even if their sovereignty is visibly absent to qualify them as independent states. In our case, we do the exact opposite of blindly obeying whatever that criminal state would want us to do, like antagonizing China without our national leadership weighing whether our holding of a joint military exercise in the disputed Spratly islands would do us good, or would in fact push us closer to confronting our giant neighbor.

There had been antecedent events in our relations with the US as when we expected them to be on our side, but turning out siding with the British created federation over our claim on Sabah. Many could read Washington’s motivation in wanting to create a deep wedge between this country and China. So, as we foolishly isolate ourselves from that most economically progressive country in the world today, our economy that is hanging by the thread suffers because of our self-inflicted denial to avail of the benefits of the “economic spin off” from what the Chinese call “chi,” or the energy generated by progress.

As our relations with China deteriorate under the auspices of this empty-headed government of President Aquino for, in the words of the late Senator Claro Recto, our canine devotion to allow ourselves to be pitted against a country against which we could never hope to win, the US takes advantage in our stead. Aside from the hard reality that we could not expect help from the Americans for the objective reason that their economy is in shambles, the US badly needs China to resuscitate its own economy. In the end, we forfeit by technicality whatever economic gain we could obtain from the booming Chinese economy because of our blind allegiance to a country that in all these years obstructed all our attempts to industrialize.

Political analysts could clearly see that our current policy towards China is a US formulated policy. Instead of questioning that, the Aquino government rather sounded the bugle for our soldiers to get ready for war. The unpleasant thing about our hallow belligerency is we are the ones spending for our own defense preparations, a dubious policy not seen by the government as our contribution to keep afloat the bankrupt US economy. A second look at that approach of sowing threat to the region’s security and political stability is it could trigger an arms build up, a situation that could be exploited by the US to sell more of their costly weapons to countries in the South China Sea that have been agitated by Western media propaganda of China’s alleged hegemonistic ambition.

Right now, China stands as our number two trading partner next to Japan. In the first half of 2010, we accounted $13.1 billion in our trade with that country or an increase by 52.6 percent from the 2009 posted at $8.6 billion. Most importantly, we continue to enjoy a favorable trade balance, that for the same period we accounted a total of $7.5 billion in imports, while the Philippines exported to China a total of $5.6 billion. The indubitable fact is without China, our economy would have dived deep into the sinkhole a long time ago.

For all that we have been saying about those cheap goods from China, it was those cheap goods we look down with disdain that allowed our people to wade through the economic difficulties to stretch their purchasing power to buy goods they could not otherwise afford for the same goods made in the US and Europe. Cheap imports somehow slowed down the drain to our much needed foreign exchange earnings by way of inter country import substitution for cheaper products.

On the contrary, the upgrading of our defense capabilities would not help our economy. Under the present situation when the world is reeling from the brunt of the economic downturn, our massive purchase of arms is both criminal and treasonous. Undeniably, it is this poor-as-a-rat country that is subsidizing the US economy that has been sacked empty by the combined action of those bank looters in Wall Street and war maniacs in Pentagon.

Even the purchase by President Aquino of that mothballed Hamilton Class US cutter renamed Gen. Gregorio del Pilar for a cost of P450 million with an added P120 million operational cost for the next two years has raised much skepticism as to what kind of defense shield President Aquino wants to build. The government ignored the fact that cutters of that class are mainly used for customs services; to intercept smugglers, sea poachers, for patrol, but not to engage enemy ships in possible sea battle. Not satisfied, the government is also planning to acquire another for the same cost.

Nonetheless, the amount we spent to purchase a costly second-hand cutter does not seem to match with the depressing truth that many of our people skip their meals for want of nothing to eat. If we are to consider the Social Weather Stations report as of September 2011, it reported that one in five households, or 21.5 percent, or an estimated 4.3 million families nationwide experience having nothing to eat in the last three months. That means our expenditures for armaments simply do not tally to our priority of whether to feed our people or to fight China.

Even the proposed acquisition of F-16 is quite staggering with each costing about (F-16 A/B) P627.8 million or P808.4 million for the newer version (F-16 C/D) a piece. So, it we purchase a dozen of them, that would cost us P7.534 billion or P9.7 billion, respectively. That means, even if we allocate our entire budget just to purchase those weapons of war, that would not suffice. What is a dozen against China’s array of modern aircraft like their 200 SU-27,150 SU-30, 100 J0-11 and an undisclosed number J-20 Stealth fighter bomber. Worse, Wikipedia states that the F-16s had been in the US Air Force inventory since 1976 or for 36 years already, and had long stopped purchasing those aircrafts that today is being sold at astronomical cost despite its outdated technology. Maybe, it would be most prudent if we think of the 30.6 million Filipinos or 6.12 million families who are suffering from poverty as estimated by the Population Commission.

As said, China will never consider us a threat to its national security. For them to naively think we are is a big joke. China is an emerging world-class superpower no country could stop. It has a much improved weapons system, and there is no way we could match that. The only way we could compel China to change their thinking of us is when we decide to build our own nuclear bomb. That then could radically alter the balance in the region, and China need not be provoked to launch a pre-emptive strike against a fanatical puppet like the Philippines.

(rodkap@yahoo.com.ph)