BONGBONG, THINK BEFORE YOU JUMP
10 April 2023
BONGBONG, THINK BEFORE YOU JUMP
By Jose Alejandrino
A president who places his country and people in harm’s way forfeits his right to govern the nation because he becomes a threat to his own people.
There is nothing wrong with a PH-US Mutual Defense Treaty that becomes operative in the event our country is invaded by a foreign power. Such a treaty is intended as a means of self-defense. But when the use of our military bases is to supply US arms and war materiel to Taiwan which we recognized as part of China, then that no longer falls within the ambit of the PH-US MDT for it constitutes an interference in the internal affairs of China and Uncle Sam is using the Philippines as a proxy like it did in Ukraine. It could spark a war between two nuclear powers and in retaliation China would have no option but to strike at our military bases in the Philippines.
The PH-US MDT does not call for an automatic response like NATO’s Article 5 in the event we are dragged into a war with China. As the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos rightly pointed out during his visit to Washington, for the MDT to become operative it has to pass through the UN and the US Congress. By that time, he said, the Filipinos are dead.
China would have a good case in event of war with the US and the Philippines. If it goes to the UN. It could claim self-defense in striking the Philippines and accuse us of meddling in Chinese internal affairs. Most countries in the UN recognize a “One China” and would be sympathetic to such an argument. Besides, China wields veto power in the UN Security Council, as does Russia, its ally.
Even if the US comes to our assistance in case of a war with China over Taiwan, it would have to count on the US Seventh Fleet with its carrier groups to keep the sea lanes open. As the US Defense Department itself grudgingly admitted, it won’t be an easy task. China possesses hypersonic missiles and high-grade laser weapons that could sink its aircraft-carriers in a matter of a few minutes. The only way to deflect hypersonic missiles is by use of laser and this is why the Pentagon is rushing to equip its naval ships with lasers. But it is not 100% fool proof. Chinese and Russian submarines armed with hypersonic missiles and lasers can easily slip at night and attack US ”flattops” of 100,000-tons which by their very size afford big targets from a distance. If the Seventh Fleet loses its “flattops” it would be virtually impossible to resupply the Philippines like in Bataan and Corregidor during World War II. What the Ukraine war is teaching war planners is the advent of technology has changed the whole concept of warfare in the 21st century. Once more, the Philippines will be by itself like Ukraine is by itself today. Hence the folly of brainless leaders like Zelensky in accepting to be a proxy in a US-NATO-Russia war than remain neutral when nuclear powers decide to exchange blows.
Only insane leaders want war. Only arms manufacturers of the military-industrial complex benefit. Look at all the recent wars around you. Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Ukraine. Have they ever solved problems? No, they only added to the suffering of innocent people, women, children. In a nuclear war, there won’t be victors or vanquished. There will only be the Peace of the Grave. I don’t want to see it in my country. My fellow Filipinos have suffered enough. If America wants to go to war with Russia and China, that is their lookout. Bongbong, if you want to remain president, don’t drag us into it. I am not asking you. I’m telling you.
