Caution on Tubbataha reactions

It is unfortunate that some government officials, including some legislators have danced to the music of cause-oriented groups on the issue of the damage caused by an American warship grounded in the Tubbataha reef. In fact, a senator is calling for the filing of criminal cases against the ship officials concerned, citing certain violations committed on our maritime laws.

As if these are not enough, a provincial governor has protested the exclusion of a Filipino representative in the team tasked to assess the grounding incident. And when a DFA official cautioned sobriety, he was at once pilloried in the media as obnoxiously pro-American.

Sobriety is no doubt the call of the hour. But in this country, what with congenital leftists getting congressional seats, the name of the game is drumbeating— especially against America. America has been the favorite whipping boy by local activists for decades now. At the height of the Cold War in the sixties and seventies and even after the disintegration of the USSR, the smallest happening involving our closest Western ally would immediately raise the hackles of home-bred leftists and Marxist ideologues.

Before 1987 these cause oriented groups used to be ragtag assemblies of poorly shod street parliamentarians, as they are called. But with the entry of party-list congressmen and congresswomen who like the regular legislators, receive multi-million pork barrels, these red-bannered klatches have become more organized and well publicized:  It’s ironical: They get funding from the government yet the same government gets spiked for its apparently pro-American stanch.

But how can this country afford to be anti-American? Starting in 1898 when the Philippines came under the political tutelage of the United States, the Filipinos have been acculturated in that country’s worldview and way of life. American educational thoughts as well as its scientific know-how and technology have had their inroads into the mind of the average Filipino. Is it any wonder if the latter is persistently pro-American?

New generations of Filipinos are expectedly assertive of their nationalist sentiments. On issues such as the Military Bases Agreement (which expired in 1991) and the current Visiting Forces Agreement a lot of nationalistic outbursts came out with the result that some politicians, perhaps to gain mileage with young voters, have come out with anti-American statements.

These politicians are aware that the Philippines simply cannot afford to distance itself from the United States. For one, the US foreign aid to this country was in the vicinity of US $500 million two years ago while its foreign direct investment (FDI) stood at $497.61 million, the highest among other trade partners including Japan. Presently, the Philippines is among the largest trading partners of the US with a total two-way trade valued at $13.6 billion.

But that is just in the area of economy. On security concerns the need for closer ties with the US has lately become very urgent, what with our problem with China in the West Philippines Sea. That Scarborough stand-off should be an eye-opener that our giant neighbor has no scruples about using its military might to intimidate us right in our territorial waters.

The successive visits of American warships lately including that hapless USS Guardian ought therefore to assure us that America is not happy with what is going on between China and its Asian neighbors, including the Philippines. America has no quarrel with China of course insofar as the South China Sea is concerned, but it is interested in maintaining the status quo in this part of Asia. As former US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton said: “But we do… have a clear interest in the maintenance of peace and stability, freedom of navigation, respect for international law, and unimpeded lawful commerce in the South China Sea.”

That statement should be reason enough for us Filipinos to treat the Tubbataha affair with caution because it involves a friend, especially now that trouble is brewing in the West Philippines Sea.