THE punchline got the gallery excited. The rhetoric resonates, except probably among the pro-Duterte crowd. But to get the message across to a broader constituency and ensure that the tasks it entails are done, many things need to be undone. The work starts now.
First, electing an “inutil,” not-up-to-the-task president cannot be repeated. It is something all voters must avoid in 2028. In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2020, then-president Rodrigo Duterte said:
“China is claiming it. We are claiming it. China has the arms, we do not have it. So? It’s simple as that.”
“They are in possession of the property... So what can we do? We have to go to war, and I cannot afford it. Maybe some other president can, but I cannot. Inutil ako diyan, sabihin ko sa inyo (I am useless/helpless about that, I tell you). And I’m willing to admit it: Talagang inutil ako diyan. Wala akong magawa (I’m really useless on that. I cannot do anything).”
If words can take a heart away, to borrow a line from a Bee Gees song, then President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. could be that “some other president.”
Mr. Marcos pounded the rostrum, struck a rhythmic cadence, as he delivered his SONA early this week. Given that China had, in recent weeks, just insulted and bloodied the Philippines (first with a short video parody depicting the Filipino as a monkey, and second with China Coast Guard personnel hitting the head of a Philippine Navy man with a wooden baton in an altercation at Ayungin Shoal), I consider the reference to the West Philippine Sea (WPS) conflict as the high point of the speech. He stated that the Permanent Court of Arbitration award won by the Philippines against China was “final and binding,” adding that the Philippines “would neither abandon nor retreat from the landmark decision.” The 2016 award quashed China’s claims over areas within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
How he plans to carry out the no retreat pledge is for now nothing but assurance: “Your government will do all that is necessary to continue upholding this award, utilizing every peaceful and legal means available to the Republic against any attempt, foreign or domestic, to undermine this achievement.”
He also cited the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coast Guard and Filipino fisherfolk for defending the country’s waters despite the risks. “To them we owe collective gratitude and appreciation for they give life to the letter and spirit of the arbitral award,” he said. (At some point, one wondered what made it so hard for him to cite some reference to the late president Benigno Aquino III, whose administration won the arbitration case for the country).
He then spoke in Tagalog to address both the nation and the international community:
“Sa mga pang-aalipusta, ‘di tayo matitinag; sa mga manlulupig, ’di tayo pasisiil (We will not be swayed by insults; we will not give in to oppressors).”
“Let me remind our friends and our detractors: Filipinos are a noble, kind, gracious and great race. We are not greedy. We are not racists. We are not liars. We are respectful, and we are dignified. We are Filipinos, and we do not yield.”
Second, to not yield will take a plan over a horizon that goes beyond the lifespan of an administration. How will the world look in 50 years? The industrial revolution at the onset of the last century counted on machines, the steel industry and chemical engineering. Countries that produced resources (mostly by grabbing minerals from Third World countries) to feed the revolution boomed. The value chain made more countries rich, notably the oil-producing Arab nations. Then the innovators like Japan and China kept pace with the wealth-making capacity of European and North American nations. The technology wars have intensified, serving a clientele that inhabits business boardrooms and military command centers. Armed conflicts are waged remotely, with automation and artificial intelligence controlling drone flights and warheads.
Regardless of how people fight wars, the cycle is recurrent: money builds arms and arms make money. The more a country becomes wealthy, the capacity to stockpile weapons and build armies increases, and grabbing territories from weak neighbors has its own rewards. China does (like nickel hoarding) what the US did: rob outside to fatten inside.
In 50 years, the rich will very likely become richer, even — or more so — at the individual level. But demographics is an x-factor. China, Japan, the US, and most of the advanced countries will have to increasingly cope with the challenge of an aging population. The Philippines, on the other hand, can capitalize on its demographic luxury. A plan not to yield would do well to situate itself in those terms.
Third, a we-do-not-yield plan has to deal with quislings (traitors) among us. The case of Chinese Alice Guo becoming a municipal mayor indicts not only herself, but also those who enabled her fraud-filled rise to officialdom. These include the political party mates, the bureaucrats who produced fabricated documents for her, and the voters who now should know better. Others attract suspicion: provincial governments (to whom the regulation of quarrying has been devolved) that allow dirt and minerals to be shipped to China, the bulk of which are being used to build man-made islands in WPS; social media trolls, influencers and opinion makers who debase the Philippine claim over the disputed territories.
Fourth, the law on treason needs to be amended. Provocations — water cannons, injuring Filipino servicemen with an axe or wooden baton, and the like — and broadcasting demeaning media content are acts of war. A Filipino who aids in whatever way the one who mounts war-like acts ought to be criminally liable.
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