On October 22 this year, China’s Coast Guard and maritime militia collided with the Armed Forces of the Philippines-commissioned resupply and Coast Guard ships in a mission to Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea.
This was a clear violation of international law, and the United States stood with the country’s right of freedom of navigation in the said area. Other countries likewise condemned this harassment by China, as did some of our own legislators.
But as in the past intrusions of China on our sovereignty, the current top-most leadership has delayed any firm decision on the incident.
In such clear violations in the past for more than six years, no immediate response has been done against China, so unlike nearby neighbors Indonesia and Vietnam which showed their fangs, so to speak. Why? How come?
Shouldn’t Bongbong Marcos, holding on as the country’s President at the moment, exercise the expected bold leadership stance in this case of international importance?
Is there cowardice in the said leader? Is he simply following the lead of his vice president’s father’s cowardly acts on these China-bullying incidents in the past? Isn’t it a shame that the Philippine’s head-of-state is not talking tough about this obvious violation of UNCLOS by China?
And such embarrassing stance is in clear contrast to the usual appropriate diplomatic stands of the US, EU, and other countries!
The Filipino people expect the highest form of statesmanship always from their leaders, most especially in the political arena of international relations.
Is this leader afraid to embarrass, much less offend, the former president, the father of Sara Duterte, who is known to be chummy-chummy with Xi Jin Ping, the president of the People’s Republic of China?
The country’s head-of-state must show brilliant diplomatic leadership, especially in the face of any imperialist power from any country in the world.
The Filipino people expect genuine service from their leaders all the time, even as they are facing hardships at the present time, a carry-over from the past administration -- spiraling prices of oil products, including rice and other staple food items, land for the landless, jobs for the jobless college graduates, full support for the farmers, laborers, small entrepreneurs, millions of Filipinos struggling for a decent life in their native land, justice for the unjustly arrested, killed, or made to disappear by state forces, and the poorest of the poor still hoping for a minimum of assistance from the government leadership.
When, indeed, under this current administration, will the Filipino people enjoy good governance with the end of their current sufferings due to bad leadership?
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