Awkward position?
Soldiers have retrieved the headless body of Jurgen Kantner, the German national who was recently beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf, after a deadline expired for the government to pay a ransom for his release. His body will undergo several routine procedures before being flown to Germany. DFA Sec. Yasay thinks the reason Kantner was eventually killed was because he was already sick. Then why wasn't he just set free? His beheading by the Abu Sayyaf only shows the cruelty and barbarism of these criminals.
I just wonder what countries Sec. Yasay was referring to when he said he was asking for help in locating the remaining hostages of the Abu Sayyaf. We all know he hasn't exactly been saying nice things about the US, and its alleged treatment of us "little brown brothers", as he puts it. President Duterte himself has constantly hit the US for a variety of reasons, mainly its criticism of his bloody war on illegal drugs. He has threatened to cancel several agreements with the US regarding defense cooperation and training. So I wonder where he's asking for help now? China? Russia? Will they help?
Just recently, three government officials were invited to board the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz-class nuclear aircraft carrier currently patrolling the South China Sea. It is situated near Scarborough Shoal, an area the country has claims to but is now being "guarded" by the Chinese Coast Guard. I am wondering why Finance Sec. Dominguez and DOJ Sec. Aguirre were invited, and not the top military brass of the AFP. Defense Sec. Lorenzana was invited as well, which is good. I wonder if China will react to this visit by Philippine officials. I'm sure President Duterte would not have accepted an invitation, if he was even invited, because of his foreign policy shift towards China and away from the US. He wouldn't want to hurt Beijing's feelings. And with all he has said against the US, a visit to an American military vessel would be awkward, if not hypocritical.
The USS Carl Vinson and several support ships have been patrolling the South China Sea in what is a resumption of freedom of navigation and overflights by the US in the region. I'm sure China has been closely monitoring its movements. It is yet to be seen if China will challenge the American naval presence, as they lay claim to practically the whole South China Sea. US President Donald Trump along with several of his Cabinet members have upped the rhetoric against China's expansion and militarization of artificially-made islands. Duterte has put aside the country's victory at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, lest it strain current Philippine-China relations which Duterte so badly wants to develop, even as many have encouraged him to assert our claims to the region. The country may find itself in an awkward position, if ever these two superpowers start making confrontational movements in the South China Sea.
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