Independence

Happy Independence Day! We’re celebrating today as US drones are deployed in Marawi City to assist in “pulverizing” Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

The US, our treaty ally, has also provided missiles and other weaponry to the Armed Forces of the Philippines for the battle to liberate Marawi. With dozens of AFP soldiers dying in the firefights, it looks like President Duterte has not exaggerated the magnitude of the threat posed by the Islamic State and its fans in the Mautes and Abu Sayyaf. Now he’s even being criticized by the foreign media for failing to detect the IS threat early enough.

Fighter jets obtained by the government from South Korea, declared useless for the AFP not too long ago by Duterte, are now being used in the bombardment. There are reports that defense and military officials are recommending the procurement of more of the jets.

Australia has expressed concern over the risk of the IS threat spreading from Marawi. Some sectors see the statement as an indication that the Aussies might also wade into the battle with some technical support.

Such support, against a group that is believed to also enjoy backing by foreign elements, is a good reminder to the Duterte administration that in this global village, nations pursue an independent foreign policy without losing sight of the geopolitical reality of interdependence.

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Our republic – the one proclaimed by our 19th century revolutionaries, not the one that emerged after Uncle Sam let go of its colony in 1946 – turns 119 years old today. Let’s see how we stack up against our neighbors who also declared independence from colonial rule.

Most of their battles for independence were fought after World War II, the period that heralded the end of Western colonialism in Asia. During the war, Japanese occupation forces in Asia encouraged nationalist movements against the Western powers.

While the US let go of the Philippines after the war, about half a century after Filipinos declared independence from Spain, other Asian countries had to fight for their freedom from colonizers. Some became embroiled in civil wars, splitting over ideology.

Today the Koreas remain divided and technically in a state of war. China is still trying to get back Taiwan. Vietnam, which kicked out the French and then the Americans, is united again, but only after the nation was drenched in blood.

Singapore became a state after a traumatic break from the Malaysian Federation, which was born after a struggle for independence from Britain. The Philippines had opposed the creation of Malaysia because the federation included Philippine-claimed North Borneo or Sabah. We’ve lost the claim.

Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands. The Burmese broke away from Britain.

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How did the new nations make use of hard-won independence?

Singapore, probably because of the unique circumstances of its birth, was the most focused and driven to succeed as a nation. We can see the impressive results. It helped that it had a Lee Kuan Yew.

The chaos of breaking away from colonial rule and post-war reconstruction called for a firm hand, especially in a region where people tend to look up to a strong paternal figure to take care of the community.

Such individuals tend to be strongmen; authoritarian rule gets things done quicker. During that period, the United Nations had just drawn up the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The nations being born in Asia had no time for human rights niceties in the struggle to restore order and bring prosperity to their people. Asia’s strongmen simply tossed the UN declaration out the window.

Lee’s emphasis on economic rights before certain civil liberties inspired Deng Xiaoping’s opening up of the Chinese economy without eroding strong central political control, and Deng’s admonition to his compatriots that “to get rich is glorious.” Today we can see the results. The Chinese are starting to own everything, including nearly the entire South China Sea.

In South Korea, where wars became a great equalizer, turning everyone into paupers with memories of loved ones killed in armed conflict, a succession of strongmen led the country, governing with an iron hand but also powering the nation toward industrialization and rapid prosperity.

Malaysia had Mahathir Mohamad; Indonesia had Suharto. We like to say that we got the wrong strongman in Ferdinand Marcos, but we weren’t dealt the worst hand in the region.

The military grabbed power in Burma, renamed it Myanmar, and did not loosen its grip until a few years ago. In the former Indochina, ex-Khmer Rouge commander Hun Sen is still in power in Cambodia. So are the socialists in Laos.

Today we’re better off than these countries economically and in terms of civil liberties.

Considering where we were in the region shortly after World War II, however, we could have done much better. We have been outperformed by many of our neighbors.

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Perhaps being part of the American alliance and security umbrella even after July 4, 1946 weakened our sense of urgency in becoming as self-reliant as possible.

The conjugal Marcos dictatorship also put personal ahead of national interests, slowing down the nation while our neighbors sprinted ahead. But the Marcoses weren’t the only ones who couldn’t see that what’s good for the majority also tends to be good for individual and family interests. Our politicians are all the same. And so are those who control the bulk of the nation’s wealth – the .001 percent who are in a position to mobilize money for economic empowerment of the masses.

Money and political power have always been locked in an incestuous embrace in our country. Those belonging to this tiny fraction of our population are the ones mainly benefiting from sustained economic growth.

Independence is declared with the objective of uplifting the lives of a nation’s people. Yet today, 119 years after independence was declared, millions of Filipinos are still waiting for liberation from poverty and for inclusive growth.

That emancipation should not take another 119 years.