Stratbase Institute, a well-funded, western-style think-tank composed of educated Filipinos from the rich and middle class, advocates a brand of "nationalism" that would actually hamper the Philippines' efforts toward progress and economic growth.
For the last several years, the Stratbase Institute (SI) has taken the rigid stance that the country's relationship with our bigger neighbor China must be defined solely on the basis of what PNoy Aquino called the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
It is as if the other facets of this relationship such as trade (China plus Hongkong our leading trade account, higher than the United States), tourism, cultural exchanges, people-to-people cooperation especially in professional fields such as marine biology, artificial intelligence, agriculture, physics and computer science, renewable energy and other modern technologies.
When the oil, gas and energy shock simultaneously hit the Philippines as a concomitant consequence of the war of aggression by Israel and the United States against Iran and its allies in the whole month of March, it became necessary for President Bongbong Marcos to reach out to China for a possible source of oil in the short term, and in the long run, for a possible partnership in the oil and gas exploration and development in the Reed Bank of the Spratlys.
This occurred on the heels of a diplomatic ruckus created by anti-China personalities like a majority of the Tito Sotto senators especially Erwin Tulfo, Risa Hontiveros, and JV Ejercito, former Commodore Jay Tarriela (now promoted), former Justice Antonio Carpio, Bishop Soc Villegas, Kalayaan, Palawan local officials and some t****ds at the Stratbase.
While even Manny V. Pangilinan of PXP Energy admitted to Bloomberg that his company neither has the technical knowhow and financial capability ($7 billion) to develop the Reed Bank and that he welcomes the possible partnership with Chinese partners (or other investors not necessarily Chinese), the Stratbase Institute said:
"China has repeatedly demonstrated that it is neither a reliable partner nor a responsible actor. It has damaged Philippine assets and endangered the lives of Filipino uniformed personnel and civilians as part of its sustained effort to assert unlawful control over areas that belong to the Philippines under international law."
The SI also affirmed in a statement that "any discussion of joint energy exploration must be firmly anchored in international law, particularly the 2016 Arbitral Award. This landmark ruling unequivocably affirms the Philippines' exclusive sovereign rights to explore and exploit natural resources within its exclusive economic zone in the WPS. These rights are non-negotiable."
By all appearances, it looks like the SI is not intellectually unwell, an inverse of its claim of being a think-tank. Stratbase is opposing something that would alleviate the suffering of the Filipino people, yet does not offer any solution to the energy problem.
Guo Wei, deputy spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy, says it best in his response, written in Tagalog, thus:
"Sabi ng Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr., bukas siya sa pag-uusap ulit with China tungkol sa joint oil and gas project. Pero ang Stratbase Institute, todo reject naman agad sa ganitong proposal. Kaya naman eto mga simpleng tanong lamang:
"Sino ba talaga ang may mandato gumawa ng foreign policy ng Pilipinas? Sino ba talaga ang nakikinabang sa pagharang sa joint exploration? At higit sa lahat, sino ang tunay na sumasalo sa pagtaas ng presyo ng gasolina?
"Go lang, Stratbase! Galingan ninyo pa!"
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