Let's not wait for US aid: We can arm ourselves!

With the Chinese suddenly becoming so aggressive in the Spratlys not just against the Philippines but also Vietnam, the United States through US Ambassador Harry Thomas Jr. stated that they would honor their commitments with the Philippines. But in my book these are mere rhetoric. America today under the Presidency of Barack Obama has not solved its economic woes, which have resulted in many budget cuts (strangely he refuses to cut the budget for abortion) including cuts in the military.

Today America still has troops in Afghanistan, a few in Iraq, 40,000 troops in South Korea and as admitted last week by outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates the US is paying nearly 80 percent for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) military operations in Libya, which he says is a militarily weak country. Hence he has questioned the unwillingness of NATO to fight (and pay for the operations) in this Mideast nation that kills its own people even with UN approval or support from the Arab League.

So again we must look at the present realities whether or not America would come to our aid. I seriously doubt it given America’s shoestring military budget at this crucial time in America’s financial crisis. In my book, the least that our US Allies can do is rearm the weakened Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with state of the art weapons if they want to help us.

Ah, but then we know too well that US aid just has too many strings attached, like the US demand for the Philippines to pass the Reproductive Health (RH) bill as enunciated by no less than US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton when she was in the Philippines a year ago.

Since the government of President Benigno Aquino III is having a hard time convincing Filipinos (despite their huge financial budget for those supporting the RH bill) because of the opposition of the Catholic Church and pro-life advocates because the arguments presented by Rep. Edcel Lagman has been debunked by anti-RH supporters, plus the most embarrassing fact  that Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) which is one of Rep. Lagman’s backers, now has openly declared that the RH bill should not be about contraceptives and population control, but a health care for marginalized women. You can more or less say that the RH bill is headed for a crushing defeat!

Incidentally, if you didn’t know last week, the news media has finally gotten a photo of the first Chinese Aircraft carrier, as China could no longer hide this maritime behemoth from prying or spying eyes, hence it openly admitted that its first aircraft carrier named Shi Lang which is under finishing touches in Dalian, near North Korea will soon be operational.

Actually this aircraft carrier isn’t really brand new as China bought it from Ukraine 13 years ago when the Soviet Union collapsed. The Shi Lang would have been the Soviet carrier Varyag, but very soon it will be the flagship of the People’s Liberation Army/Navy. When she becomes operational, it can very well come too close to Philippine waters and her fighter aircraft can easily fly over Philippine territory with impunity, as the Philippine Air Force (PAF) doesn’t have any interceptors anymore to be of any threat to the Chinese fighters. What a shame that we can’t even intercept their fighters!

In this world of Geopolitics, we Filipinos ought to know our strategic value, as we are located right at the doorstep of China. This is why China is bullying or scaring us to submission because they know that P-Noy is a weak President who can easily be bullied! We are a country of 90 million Filipinos that has the capability to build our own warships in the shipyards of Balamban, Cebu. But a weak President cannot even think of doing the right thing. Perhaps P-Noy is just enjoying his Porsche too much.

But I’m not kidding! Look at the pages of World War II when the Americans started to regain the Philippines, especially during the Battle of Leyte Gulf from Oct. 22 to 15, 1945. A good number of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s Task Force under Adm. Kurita was sunk in Surigao Strait by PT-Boats made out of plywood! Incidentally, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was the last time American aircraft carriers fought the Japanese carriers in the greatest naval engagement in World War II. I hope the Chinese realize this.

The Aboitiz owned Shipyard in Balamban has made a lot of fast crafts that they sold to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, including a fast ferry to Hong Kong. These are ultra fast vessels that can be made to carry ship-to-ship missiles that could blow a Chinese aircraft carrier out of the water if it is armed by a Tomahawk or Exocet missile systems. This is something that we Filipinos can build on our own without relying on US Aid because we just cannot accept the population control requirements that the US is demanding in return for that aid. I say it is time to arm ourselves because we truly can do it in Balamban at a much lower cost. But will we? Ask P-Noy!

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