RP's patsy intelligentsia

DIE HARD III

Herman Tiu Laurel

11/26/2012

Daily Tribune

I scan almost every Filipino mainstream newspaper columnist or commentator almost every day. I also scan global news and analysis Web site. Comparing the range of thoughts on the international and national issues of our times I always come to the inescapable conclusion that the vast majority of Philippine intellectuals are "intellectual patsies." A patsy is a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of. In Pilipino, a patsy is one who is "uto-uto." Collectively, the Philippine intelligentsia (purportedly highly educated people as a group, regarded as possessing culture and political influence through their intellectual standing) is predominantly a collection of patsies, mostly sucking up to the global and national financial elite, the corrupt politicians and the global hegemon that is the US of A. Recently, I find this trait in many columnists and commentators.

One Filipino columnist, a lawyer, lambasted Hun Sen and described the Cambodian leader as "being part of the Pol Pot regime that committed genocide that is now being prosecuted by the Extraordinary Chambers of Cambodia. He is also no match to our P-Noy in terms of moral stature."
The facts of history show Hun Sen as very courageous leader, a former military officer with the Khmer rouge (the only effective force against the US imperialist and its puppets) who defected and led the war to depose Pol Pot with Vietnamese help. Hun Sen has one glass eye due to combat injury. Many Cambodians consider Hun Sen a hero against Pol Pot. I don't see how PeNoy can be morally superior to Hun Sen in domestic or global affairs — for being a "patsy" of GMA to being a "patsy" of Ambassador Thomas — PeNoy has never shown any moral stuff to begin with.

We have patsies on all levels of the government hierarchy. For example, Marvic Leonen ascended to the Supreme Court (SC) despite being totally bereft of integrity for declaring that "there is no foreign influence in the peace agreement on the Bangsamoro" when the handprints of Malaysia, the US and Britain are all over it. Leonen has been rewarded for catering to the desires of the powerful. Leonen's appointment follows Justice Sereno who caters to the interests of the corporate oligarchs of the country instead of interpreting law in favor of the welfare of the people. We will never see non-patsies, outstanding legal luminaries willing to stand up to the powerful, with proven track record of principled advocacy in the SC, such as lawyer Alan Paguia who sacrificed almost a decade of being suspended from practice for standing against the skewed justice of the GMA-Davide SC.

Many newspaper columnists now lambast China and its supposed "bullying" of the Philippines, citing the naval build-up of China as evidence. But what is China building up for? Isn't it against the real bully in all of modern history — the Western hegemon? In many critiques of China's defense moves a myopia is prevalent, failing to see China and the Philippines in relations to global political-economic-military strategic situation. They term China a bully when the greatest bully is right inside the Philippine — the US overlord and its minions demanding continuously increasing tribute by way of diktats from its agencies such as the International Monetary Fund. Lagarde has just demanded new "tax on texts" after ramming through the "sin tax" and tollways taxes despite Noy's promised "no new taxes." The US rammed through the Bangsamoro agreement, violates with impunity the "no nukes" policy of the Philippine Constitution, ad nausea.

Filipino intellectual patsies are a scourge to human history, they abet wars that serve the Western hegemony's interests while collaborating in the ritual sacrifice of the rest of the world to that hegemony. In World War II where the Philippines acted as a loyal colony of the rival imperialist countries at war instead of exercising independent influence to avert war. Many in the Philippine intelligentsia today are incapable of playing a new game — taking sides instead of standing sovereign and exercising its influence for the good of its own strategic interest which is the prevention of conflict and war in the region. The Philippine intelligentsia should help clarify that: the issue on the China Sea is not who "owns" but how to share "50/50" or more for the small countries; the defense issue is how to stop the US "missile defense shield" that will allow US "first strike" capacity and trigger retaliation against the US "lily pad" military bases in the region like the Philippines, Japan and South Korea

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