PBBM’s first stop: China
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Romualdez ‘Bongbong/bbm’ Marcos, Jr. (PBBM) has accepted China’s invitation to visit the august Asian nation and pre-eminent power of the region, apparently the first one among many invitations he has received upon his inauguration as the 17th leader of the Republic of the Philippines.
He has also received invitations from the United States and the European Union but has not made any public acceptance of the invites.
PBBM may be doing a repeat of President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s first year itinerary, visiting China first among the major world powers and shunned a visit to the United States completely throughout his six-year term.
President Duterte openly displayed his deep dislike for the imperialist United States when he resurrected a photo of the Budj Dajo massacre committed by American troops during the colonial period and also declared a “separation from America”.
Despite several invitations from America to visit, the last one for the Biden-ASEAN summit early last May, Duterte never visited.
PBBM could do the same with invitations from the US government given the fact that there still hangs an unjust “sword of Damocles” over the Marcos heirs over alleged obligations of the heirs of the estate of his father, President Ferdinand Senior despite assurance of immunity from US undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman in her visit to PBBM just prior to his inauguration.
At the level of the national political leadership it is as clear as the morning sun that presently, China is no longer a pariah, no longer an enemy, and as PBBM says, China is the Philippines’ “strongest partner” and has repeatedly announced that he wants to “enhance to a higher level” the relationship with China – even defiantly saying that “military cooperation” with China will now be considered.
The turn is not only for the better but even for the best in Philippine-China relations has been in contrast to the popular perceptions reported by surveys upon surveys in the past revealing very negative perceptions of China in most Filipinos.
This is understandable as in the past two decades there had been a constant hammering and pounding of China in the mainstream media and among pro-American senators and politicians in the service of US geopolitical moves in the region, i.e. the “Pivot to Asia” or the containment of China.
But public perception has also been making a turn for the better towards becoming the best too, and it started in 2021 when China delivered on its promise to make its anti-Covid-19 vaccine into a “global public good” and made the Philippines it first beneficiary.
The country’s vaccination rollout set for March 1, 2021 could not have happened if China’s donation of over a million doses had not arrived at the end of February 2021.
Four months later a survey by PUBlicus Asia found in a survey of 1,500 Filipinos that 53 percent no longer view China as our “enemy” and Filipinos are now more open to consider China as friend or even ally.
56 million of vaccine doses later and at least three much-publicized bridge donations and assistance (Estrella-Pantalaeon Bridge, Binondo-Intramuros Bridge and the Davao-Samal Bridge), I was privileged to see a report of OCTA about the dramatic change of Filipino attitude towards China.
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We continue to see, read and view efforts by anti-China elements who are likely also pro-American elements raise the decibels of their anti-China tirades, focusing on the faded South China Sea dispute issues and debunked arbitration “award” but, to no avail.
China’s demonstration of goodwill has been in real, physical terms and not just hot air.
The US and its allies try are now trying to match China’s $ 8-trillion ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) with a $ 600-billion “Partnership of Global Infrastructure and Investment,” which, given the glaring disparity of the amounts is just another deceptive propaganda, hot air.
I read one such anti-China tirade in the Manila Standard, by Louise “Barok” Biraogo who rarely writes on foreign policy and relations but when he does its invariably anti-China and always peppered with erroneous assumptions like “… the West Philippine Sea is, under International Law, belong to the Philippines.” This betrays his ignorance of even the arbitration “award” and the UN’s official position that it has nothing to do with that award.
I am bringing up this “Barok” due to his recent column entitled “Don’t believe Beijing’s lies about the Philippines.”
On the contrary, Beijing has been the most honest, reliable international and regional superpower whose every word has proven to be carved in stone.
But “Barok” may have other reasons for his anti-China attitude that most Filipinos no longer share, and it is possibly linked to the control of the National Grid Corporation (NGCP) of some power oligarchs.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s early acceptance of China’s invitation to visit Beijing reflects the degree of trust and expectation the current administration holds for China, and it has been this way since the missions of Rajah Kiling of the Kingdom of Butuan and Sultan Paduka Pahala of Sulu to China more than 1,000 years ago.
