DIE HARD III / Herman Tiu Laurel / April 9, 2014 / Daily Tribune
April 2 was a big day for the China Sea-West Philippine Sea issue. It was the day of the much-talked-about forum entitled “Understanding 21st Century China: All Under Heaven?” sponsored by such big-named institutions as Asia Society, Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of the Philippines, Tufts Fletcher School Alumni Association-Philippines, the hangers-on Ramos Peace and Development Foundation Inc. (where did FVR get the money?), and former senior government officials (hangers-on to hangers-on-governments dragged along by Uncle Sam). It had to be held, of course, in the corporate cadre training center, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
Despite the corporate aura that I do not care for, the forum did offer unique and substantive insights from the depth of knowledge and experience of three speakers: Professor Marwyn Samuels of Syracuse University (married to a Chinese and teaches in China, according to Chito Sta. Romana); Dr. Liping Zheng of the Asian Development Bank, who provided in-depth understanding of China’s economic situation; and, of course, Chito Sta. Romana himself, the fountainhead of understanding and wisdom on China for Filipinos, who balances off the official attack dogs under the US leash like Rafael Alunan, Roilo Golez, Fidel V. Ramos, Albert del Rosario, Voltaire Gazmin, and the Philippine mainstream media.
We are thankful to Jerry Quibilan, a retired corporate executive, who has become a web-journalist e-mailing and recounting his travels and his participation in kapihans (from Melo Acuna’s at the Aristocrat every Monday to the Rembrandt and to wherever else these are held), for sending us the summaries of the forum talks and various exchanges of views he had on the Internet with his AIM alumni friends.
Jerry’s summary of summaries: The forum dwelt on the recent development in the socio-economic landscape of China; how China’s changing geopolitics and national politics affect other Association of Southeast Asian Nation economies; and how we strengthen people-to-people relations with China in spite of the ongoing issues on the West Philippine Sea.
But some of the public reaction at the forum addressed to Jerry in the e-mails reveal even much more truth. For example, from a certain Alex to Jerry reacting to Alunan and FVR: “I noticed something very different from the forum today compared to the forum of anti-China activist Raffy Alunan, Roilo Golez and President Ramos also at the AIM in December. They got former commodores and commanders of the US 7th Fleet to tell us Filipinos we have to prepare for war with China and shed our blood. We got videos on recycled airplanes and ships to buy for the coming war with China… videos on the Korean war where 10,000 Filipinos allegedly killed 40,000 Chinese. Today President Ramos laughed at the Philippines’ decision to buy 12 new jet planes to use against China. That shook me up. My impression is that Raffy Alunan and President Ramos have noticeably lost their belligerence. They were as nice to China as apple pie. Both said Filipinos should try to understand China and restore normal relations soonest. I am quite puzzled to say the least.”
I’ll suggest an answer to Puzzled Alex: The P20-billion deal to buy the used FA-50 from South Korea has already been signed and sealed; and so the syndicate can now relax the propaganda scare-mongering.
Here’s another from Charlie, a Filipino expat, which I translate to English from Tagalog: “P’reng Feliz, You’re right! From our very safe haven in Canada and in the USA, you and I need not be bothered at all about how China reacts from a ‘shaming’ by the Philippines. We are the noisiest and most war-freakish against China because we are not going to be bombed by China and penalized with economic sanctions. Let’s hear it from our brothers back in the Motherland. They are the ones who will have to face the Chinese. Let us go by their decision and be as supportive to them as any expatriate Filipino can be.”
The trouble with US steak commandos such as Loida Nicolas-Lewis and Rodel Rodis is they merely want the Philippines to act as cannon fodder. And, Charlie, the US and Canada will get their share of intercontinental ballistic missiles too.
Back to the forum, the real gem came from Chito Sta. Romana, as summarized by Jerry: “‘If China does not respect any decision of the UNCLoS, which Professor Samuels also says will happen, the Philippines will have no choice but to negotiate with China directly, the Chinese way. People-to-people contacts and friendships between the Chinese and the Filipinos will continue as usual’” but Chito confirmed that China will not give any FDIs or economic assistance to the Philippines for the foreseeable future.”
Then came this quip from one reactor in the forum, Wilson Lee Flores: “We were colonized four times —the Spanish, the British, the Americans, and the Japanese. Filipinos were killed and the country’s resources were plundered. On the other hand, what have the Chinese done in over a thousand years here? They just traded and gave us siopao, siomai, mami, and lomi.”
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Meralco siphoning capital out of the country” with Butch Junia and “Mayor Erap kicks out Big Oil”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
April 2 was a big day for the China Sea-West Philippine Sea issue. It was the day of the much-talked-about forum entitled “Understanding 21st Century China: All Under Heaven?” sponsored by such big-named institutions as Asia Society, Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Association of the Philippines, Tufts Fletcher School Alumni Association-Philippines, the hangers-on Ramos Peace and Development Foundation Inc. (where did FVR get the money?), and former senior government officials (hangers-on to hangers-on-governments dragged along by Uncle Sam). It had to be held, of course, in the corporate cadre training center, the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).
Despite the corporate aura that I do not care for, the forum did offer unique and substantive insights from the depth of knowledge and experience of three speakers: Professor Marwyn Samuels of Syracuse University (married to a Chinese and teaches in China, according to Chito Sta. Romana); Dr. Liping Zheng of the Asian Development Bank, who provided in-depth understanding of China’s economic situation; and, of course, Chito Sta. Romana himself, the fountainhead of understanding and wisdom on China for Filipinos, who balances off the official attack dogs under the US leash like Rafael Alunan, Roilo Golez, Fidel V. Ramos, Albert del Rosario, Voltaire Gazmin, and the Philippine mainstream media.
We are thankful to Jerry Quibilan, a retired corporate executive, who has become a web-journalist e-mailing and recounting his travels and his participation in kapihans (from Melo Acuna’s at the Aristocrat every Monday to the Rembrandt and to wherever else these are held), for sending us the summaries of the forum talks and various exchanges of views he had on the Internet with his AIM alumni friends.
Jerry’s summary of summaries: The forum dwelt on the recent development in the socio-economic landscape of China; how China’s changing geopolitics and national politics affect other Association of Southeast Asian Nation economies; and how we strengthen people-to-people relations with China in spite of the ongoing issues on the West Philippine Sea.
But some of the public reaction at the forum addressed to Jerry in the e-mails reveal even much more truth. For example, from a certain Alex to Jerry reacting to Alunan and FVR: “I noticed something very different from the forum today compared to the forum of anti-China activist Raffy Alunan, Roilo Golez and President Ramos also at the AIM in December. They got former commodores and commanders of the US 7th Fleet to tell us Filipinos we have to prepare for war with China and shed our blood. We got videos on recycled airplanes and ships to buy for the coming war with China… videos on the Korean war where 10,000 Filipinos allegedly killed 40,000 Chinese. Today President Ramos laughed at the Philippines’ decision to buy 12 new jet planes to use against China. That shook me up. My impression is that Raffy Alunan and President Ramos have noticeably lost their belligerence. They were as nice to China as apple pie. Both said Filipinos should try to understand China and restore normal relations soonest. I am quite puzzled to say the least.”
I’ll suggest an answer to Puzzled Alex: The P20-billion deal to buy the used FA-50 from South Korea has already been signed and sealed; and so the syndicate can now relax the propaganda scare-mongering.
Here’s another from Charlie, a Filipino expat, which I translate to English from Tagalog: “P’reng Feliz, You’re right! From our very safe haven in Canada and in the USA, you and I need not be bothered at all about how China reacts from a ‘shaming’ by the Philippines. We are the noisiest and most war-freakish against China because we are not going to be bombed by China and penalized with economic sanctions. Let’s hear it from our brothers back in the Motherland. They are the ones who will have to face the Chinese. Let us go by their decision and be as supportive to them as any expatriate Filipino can be.”
The trouble with US steak commandos such as Loida Nicolas-Lewis and Rodel Rodis is they merely want the Philippines to act as cannon fodder. And, Charlie, the US and Canada will get their share of intercontinental ballistic missiles too.
Back to the forum, the real gem came from Chito Sta. Romana, as summarized by Jerry: “‘If China does not respect any decision of the UNCLoS, which Professor Samuels also says will happen, the Philippines will have no choice but to negotiate with China directly, the Chinese way. People-to-people contacts and friendships between the Chinese and the Filipinos will continue as usual’” but Chito confirmed that China will not give any FDIs or economic assistance to the Philippines for the foreseeable future.”
Then came this quip from one reactor in the forum, Wilson Lee Flores: “We were colonized four times —the Spanish, the British, the Americans, and the Japanese. Filipinos were killed and the country’s resources were plundered. On the other hand, what have the Chinese done in over a thousand years here? They just traded and gave us siopao, siomai, mami, and lomi.”
(Tune in to “Sulo ng Pilipino” on 1098 AM, dwAD, Tuesday to Friday, 5 p.m.; catch GNN’s Talk News TV with HTL on Destiny Cable Channel 8, SkyCable Channel 213, and www.gnntv-asia.com, Saturday, 8:00 p.m. and replay Sunday, 8 a.m., this week on “Meralco siphoning capital out of the country” with Butch Junia and “Mayor Erap kicks out Big Oil”; visit http://newkatipunero.blogspot.com; and text reactions to 0917-8658664)
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