Ancient ties

Had we not been colonized by Spain and the United States, we might have had our own weddings not unlike the spectacular wedding of Brunei royalty. But, alas, we were shoved on a different path. Such weddings of what might have been may not be as opulent as what oil rich Brunei can afford, but history tells us that our relations with Brunei go back to ancient times. Indeed more than just foreign relations between countries. The royal families of Brunei were related to the royal families of what were then Muslim communities in an entire area that was Muslim or Muslim-influenced. According to Cesar Adib Majul’s definitive book Muslims in the Philippines, the relations between Manila and Brunei can be traced to the early sixteenth century.

Majul narrates that a Sultan Bulkeiah (Nakhoda Ragan) was the Rajah who conquered the kingdom of Sooloook and made a dependency of the counry of Selurong. He would be the ancestor of the bridegroom, Crown Prince Al-Muhtadee Billah Bolkiah, 30, son of Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. On the other hand the defeated Rajah then was called ‘Datoh Gamban’ according to the Brunei Selesilah (I suppose these are records of the ancient times of Muslims in the Philippines). According to Brunei tradition, Selurong is said to be in the island of Luzon and the site of the present town of Manila. Majul thinks that may be true because the so-called captain general of Luzon who was captured off the coast of Brunei in 1521 was related to the Brunei sultan. It is probable, too, that the Brunei sultan entitled Siripada at that time was no other that Sultan Bulkiah.

What all this means is that there was a ‘Philippines’ (albeit as another community formation with another name) before the Spaniards came and it was part of the Malay archipelago which retained its Muslim customs. This also answers in part why royal families in some Asian countries have endured. It is interesting how they were able to retain the culture of their ancestors. Other royals present in the gathering were Bahrain’s King Hamad and Japan’s Crown Prince Naruhito. Interestingly keeping royalty did not prevent them from modernizing their countries. Our own Philippine President Gloria Arroyo was in a terno, a drawback from the influence of Spanish and Western Christian influence. Asia’s leaders were there in force – Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, who had to hurry back home with the Jakarta bombing, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

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There may be those who are uncomfortable about President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s visit to China. But it is good for us, provided Mrs. Arroyo keeps her perspective. It puts the Philippines squarely in the region where it belongs. Not everybody will be pleased but it was not only inevitable, but necessary that we boost relations with China. The common assumption is since Beijing became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), it has junked its overruns and cheap goods to Manila. I was surprised when the President said the contrary. She said Manila’s bilateral trade with China has gone from "almost nothing to 10 billion dollars, with the balance of trade in our favor."

Among other agreements that also surprised me is that the two countries have now agreed to jointly conduct the seismic mapping of potential oil reserves of the Spratly Islands. This is an area of conflict and there are other claimants. I am not surprised that she should despatch newly appointed Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz to Beijing to work on the framework for bilateral defense cooperation. Does that mean we are moving away from our close relations with the United States who sees China as its main rival in the region? Not so, Arroyo said. It merely recognizes "that China plays a determining influence in the security and economy of our region and therefore for our country," as does the United States and Japan.

To me it makes sense because China is expected to replace the United States as Japan’s largest trade partner in 2004. Japan-US trade totaled 10.05 trillion yen (US$92.06 billion) for the first half of the year seems to indicate a downturn. Indeed it was outpaced by trade between Japan and China, including Hong Kong, at 10.48 trillion yen. Japan’s overall exports and imports came to just over 53 trillion yen during the January-June period. The growing volume of Japan-China trade is expected to continue into the second half. This might be the beginnings of the Asian century so many had predicted until the financial crisis in 1997. We have to be part of that century or be overwhelmed by its economic juggernaut.

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It is unfortunate that what made news was how JDV raised more than 300 million pesos for the Bayanihan fund while on board the airplane. Perennial critics had a field day writing a lot of nonsense. While it is timely with the country threatened with a fiscal crisis, it is not the more valuable contribution of JDV to the China trip. China Daily reports that the Communist Party of China (CPC) hosted the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) for the first time. It initiated discussion among party representatives in the region under the theme of Exchanges, Co-operation and Development.

The idea of putting political parties in Asia under one roof in Asia was a brainchild of Speaker de Venecia when he was still out of government after he was defeated by now jailed former President Erap. "I was a plain citizen and a member of the Opposition when the first gathering of the Asian Political Parties was held at the Manila Hotel," JDV told this column.

Today that vision is a reality. It brought representatives from 84 parties in 35 Asian countries in a three-day event to Beijing at the same time as the Macapagal-Arroyo state visit. Regional security and multilateral co-operation, economic growth, social progress, political party building and national development were discussed.

On China’s part, Wang Jiarui, minister of the International Department of the CPC Central Committee, said he hopes the conference "will help other Asian political parties understand the CPC’s policy of building a good neighborly relationship and partnership with its neighboring countries." Along with Prime Minister of Thailand Thaksin Shinawatra and other leaders, he endorsed De Venecia’s presidency of the Asian Political Parties conference for the third time. That brings honor to our country and should not be obscured by nitpicking on a puny fundraising aboard the plane. However much each businessman contributed, the point is they must be made to feel the crisis and what better way than to give where it hurts.

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E-mail: cpedrosa@edsamail.com.ph