Israel and the Philippines

Our country marked the 60th anniversary of its signing the Treaty of Friendship with the State of Israel. It was observed last week. It was on February 26, 1958 when then Philippine “acting” Foreign Affairs Secretary Felixberto Serrano and Israel’s Head of Mission Daniel Lewin signed the treaty for “perpetual peace and firm and lasting friendship between the Republic of the Philippines and the State of Israel and between their people.”

We invited Israel’s Ambassador Effie Ben Matityau in our Tuesday Club to celebrate auspiciously this important occasion in the history of the two nations. It was forged during the dark hours when both Filipinos and Israelis suffered from the atrocities of World War II. On this occasion, Amb. Matityau honored us with his presence in our regular weekly breakfast gathering of the Tuesday Club at Heat Restaurant in Edsa Shangri-la in Mandaluyong City.

According to Amb. Matityau, the Israel Embassy in Manila will commemorate one more important jubilee year of the bilateral ties of the two nations. Later this year, they will observe the 70th anniversary to the Philippines’ vote for the United Nations (UN) resolution that led to the creation of the State of Israel. Incidentally, Israel will celebrate in April this year the 70th anniversary of their statehood, he added.

The Friendship Treaty came into effect ten years after the late Commonwealth president Manuel L. Quezon adopted in 1937 an “Open Door Policy” that saved the lives of 1,300 Jewish refugees from the infamous “holocaust” in Europe where Nazi soldiers of the Third Reich headed by Adolf Hitler led Germany during WW II and committed genocide.

“This was a moral victory for the Philippines,” the Israeli Ambassador cited.

Part of the activities for the twin occasions will be the inauguration of the Philippine-Israel Friendship Park that will be unveiled in Quezon Memorial Park. It is a project of the Embassy in partnership with the Quezon City Government, the President Elpidio Quirino Foundation, and the President Manuel Roxas Foundation.

Israel is a Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea. It is regarded as the biblical Holy Land. Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem. Within its Old City, the Temple Mount complex includes the Dome of the Rock shrine, the historic Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Filipino Catholics go to Israel not only as tourists but largely as pilgrims to visit and pay their respects to the Holy Land. Because of this Friendship Treaty, Filipinos can fly to Israel without any visa and vice versa for Israeli nationals to come here to the Philippines with no visa requirement.

Now on his fourth year of posting here in the Philippines, the Israeli ambassador told us he would describe the Filipino culture as built around four pillars. Not exactly in this order, the Ambassador identified the following as pillars of the Filipino culture, namely: love for foods; fondness for karaoke singing; good dancing, and, lots of “selfies” or photo-taking.

In his extemporaneous speech before us last Tuesday, Amb. Matityau shared the special bond of the Israeli people with the Filipinos whose two former presidents named “Manuel” played key parts in forging the deep friendship between the two nations. The two late Philippine presidents, he cited, have biblical roots to the Hebrew name “Emmanuel,” meaning “God is with us.” This was the foretold name of Jesus Christ, the Messiah in the Old Testament. 

Of course, the Israeli ambassador refers to ex-presidents Quezon and Roxas who continue to be fondly remembered by the Israeli people. But not known to many until Amb. Matityau disclosed to us, our incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte also shares a deeply rooted bond with the Jewish people.

Among the 1,300 Jewish refugees, who shipped their way to the Philippines to rebuild their lives here, were direct ancestors of Elizabeth Zimmerman-Duterte, the ex-wife of the former Davao City mayor. “She (Zimmerman) is granddaughter of one of the 1,300 Jewish refugees here in the Philippines,” Amb. Matityau said. After the inter-marriages and migrations later to other countries like the United States and elsewhere, the ambassador explained, the Jewish community in the Philippines grew in number and mixed races.

Their marriage annulled, President Duterte has three children with Zimmerman, namely, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, ex-Vice Mayor Paolo and Sebastian.

Amb. Matityau added a footnote that one of the President’s grandchildren also bears a Jewish name “Yaer.”

Pronounced ya-EAR, it is a Hebrew verb meaning, “he will light” or “he will enlighten.” It appears both in ancient Jewish sources and as a familiar name in contemporary Israel. He is one of Sebastian’s sons to two different women, both out of wedlock.

Known for his expletives-laced speeches, President Duterte at one time committed diplomatic faux pas last year when he tried to downplay suspects being killed in his administration’s much-criticized anti-drug war in the Philippines by citing Hitler’s “holocaust” killing of the Jews.

“Hitler massacred 3 million Jews … there’s 3 million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” President Duterte once bragged, referring to his war on drugs. He later publicly apologized to Jews.

Aside from public apology, Amb. Matityau recalled President Duterte personally visited their synagogue to convey his sincere regrets to the off-the-cuff remark. It was made in defense of his administration being accused of human rights violations and extrajudicial killings (EJKs) in the on-going war against illegal drugs.

In fact, President Duterte is facing before the International Criminal Court (ICC) a case of alleged “crimes against humanity” for the police killing of more than 7,000 drug suspects since his administration implemented the “Tokhang” campaign in June 2016.

Holocaust and other war crimes committed during WW II brought together Israel and the Philippines. Crimes against humanity should not, however, define our country now before the world.