Mike Acebedo Lopez

Before anything, allow me to predict that after this particular column entry (like all those I’ve written critical toward Aquino and sympathetic toward his predecessor) shall have been made available online via the Philippine Star website, a barrage of comments shall also be posted on the same page, disparaging me. Okay, it isn’t so much a prediction but a theory of mine corroborated by a friend working in the communications office in Malacañang. Apparently, they have a team of writers who monitor the websites of newspapers and blogs and readily defend the president and attack his critics.

Dirty tactics making the most of our democracy (in a bad way), don’t you think? Anyhow, just saying. It doesn’t really bother me when these attack dogs do what they do (certainly, not all are ‘pakawala ng palasyo;’ the rest are real people who simply believe in the president, and some, blind followers of the Yellow cult). Criticisms, after all, are part of the territory.

Speaking of territory, let’s talk about one of Noy’s more recent epic fail.

We’ve become a diplomatic joke, owing to the fact that we’ve made our appeals to the US to intervene in the Scarborough dispute so public, whilst our president acts with a swagger so unsubstantiated, unsupported by artillery and expertise needed to make even the slightest dent. This baseless braggadocio is reminiscent of his candidacy for president, with nothing much to offer save for some very unproductive years as a legislator, his being the offspring of ‘democracy icons,’ and his uninteresting love life, yet he spoke like he had much to show. Paet.

Hillary Clinton has since made it clear: the US won’t take any sides, but will help upgrade the Philippine Navy, and only because of our Mutual Defense Treaty with America. Completely understandable and expected. China and the US are not the best of friends, but they can’t afford to be enemies either. Think of all the American businesses and their factories in China, not to mention other economic factors that link both giants.  

It was so embarrassing, after the public display of mendicancy on the part of the Philippines, groveling for US support like that, to be likewise turned down publicly by the only superpower ally we were hoping would be with us through and through vis-à-vis the Panatag territorial dispute. If Noy Aquino was a little more circumspect and a little less eager, his government could have made sure first (through Track II diplomacy or going through backchannels) if we were actually going to get the support, so we could’ve saved ourselves from this monumental faux pas.

But the US decision (and RP’s subsequent appeal for intervention) is merely a recent addition to long list of failures when our relationship with China and the West Philippine Sea is concerned.

It wasn’t so long ago when Aquino deployed a warship (BRP Gregorio Del Pilar) to confront Chinese fishermen in the Panatag area, effectively militarizing the dispute and, adding fuel to the flame, so to speak. In case this escalates, in the eyes of the world, after China efficiently states its case and justifies its actions, it would be seen that we started it (particularly after our Navy allegedly pointed guns at Chinese fishermen seeking refuge at the Shoal during a storm), and we are the aggressors. Good God, what were you thinking, Mr. President?

Since Noy became president, and after the Luneta hostage crisis, our relationship with China has never been the same. How Noy’s communications people openly denied getting a call from Hong Kong’s chairman (even after the chairman himself made pronouncements on TV that he was trying to call the Palace and the Philippine President to no avail) and indirectly imputed that he was lying, and how the recommendations of the panel that investigated the hostage issue were ignored by Noy because apparently he didn’t want to prosecute his closest friends/appointees, is a clear indication of where this particular head of state intends to bring our country as far as our relations with China are concerned.

And what about his choice of Ambassador to Beijing? Domingo Lee? Oh my gosh, please cut the crap! Check out Lee’s Senate Commission on Appointments hearings on YouTube and be ready to be flabbergasted, angered, insulted, and probably, entertained by our president’s choice of Ambassador to China (especially considering the damage that needs to be repaired in our bilateral relations, and of course, the importance of China in the world economy).

After the Lee spectacle, Noy has not yet appointed a qualified ambassador to China, an act that could be seen as an insult from Beijing’s vantage point.

Did I miss out on other blunders? Surely, but if these blunders (those included herein and those I’ve left out) give way to armed conflict (God forbid), just remember, China has Sun Tzu’s Art of War. What do we have? Noy Aquino, and perhaps nothing but him to blame.

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Tonight on The Bottomline with Boy Abunda: Former Miss International Melanie Marquez, known for her ‘Melanisms,’ takes the hot seat in this evening’s episode of the Asian Television Awards 2011 ‘Best Talk Show.’ She reveals much about her difficult childhood, her journey to success as the country’s first international super model, and how life is now while semi-retired at her American husband’s ranch in Utah.

Watch The Bottomline later after Banana Split on ABS-CBN. Encore cable telecast tomorrow, Sunday, 1 pm, on the ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC).

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