Non-bloody way to fight China’s invasion

It is written in our Constitution that the executive power shall be vested in the President of the Philippines. The President rides in a car with a plate that bears the number “1” because he is the number “1” citizen of this country, even if, theoretically speaking, he only leads one of the three major departments in our government’s constitutional structure, the other two being the Congress and the judiciary. Therefore, as the holder of the highest position in our government, the President is entitled to our highest respect.

President Rodrigo Duterte is our country’s chief executive but he, too, is a human being with obvious skewed sense of idiosyncrasies. I do not intend to disrespect Duterte. I might have heard foul language from him of the worst kind that I would not want my children to hear but his indecent lingo is, rather unfortunately, personal to him that I have no reason to deny him our collective respect. Duterte might have assailed my perception of the dignity of marriage by firstly his going around the world with a woman who is not known to be his lawful wife, and secondly by coaxing women, largely unacquainted to him, to kiss his lips but who are we to impose our sense of morality on him?

It is an entirely different spectrum when the President mutters something that in my own feeling militates against the interest of the country. Mindful of my almost total inconsequence as an ordinary citizen of this land, I harbored this feeling of unease when, few nights ago, President Duterte addressed our nation. After being ominously silent on the assault, invasion and occupation by Communist China of some islands (or islets) within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, Duterte mumbled these demeaning, unpatriotic, misguided and cowardly words: “Walang iba, giyera lang.” He was referring to the situation where Red China, conscious of its invincibility seized our land at the West Philippine Sea and built thereon clearly aggressive military installations. And sad to say, I have lost respect for the President in his capacity as the chief architect of our country’s foreign policy.

It is not true, Mr. President, that we are utterly hopeless. You are wrong in declaring that there is no other way to get back our land than to wage war. In International Law, adverse multi-state pressure is mightier than nuclear bombs. The Philippines, under your presidency, can still nurture the support of many other freedom-loving states to uphold the rule of law. The ruling laid down by the International Arbitral Tribunal recognizing most parts of the West Philippine Sea as within our EEZ is, in essence a rule of law. You can bring this document to all transnational forums of discussion to invite the attention of other states and show to them that the sovereignty of our free state is violated by a modern imperialist power in Red China. My little understanding of public international law tells me that if only you have the guts to use this document, you can generate enough international support to pressure China to abandon its expansionism. After all, Dr Jovita Salonga, quoting Dag Hammsrskjold, says, “states, like individuals, quietly obey the law in their activities because obedience to law is a habit from which for many reasons it is unwise to depart.”

This is where the problem lies. It is a problem of your own making, Sir. Since the start of your presidency, you have so favored Communist China as to become its lackey. You must realize, Mr. President, that China’s reward of your supposed friendliness is its forcible usurpation of our land. But, it is not late to alter your course of foreign policy. The interest of the Philippines demands that.