Bowing to Uncle Sam’s Diktat—again

ABOUT a month after Russia launched its preemptive ‘special military operations’ in Eastern Ukraine last February 24, 2022 to protect its sovereign interests and the people of Easten Ukraine daily being assaulted for the last 7 years by the fascist regime in Kyviv, our defense secretary, Delfin Lorenzana, in an interview, said the Philippines would continue with its helicopter supply deal with Russia.

Well, what do you know? On July 26, 2022, after he got out of office at the DND and had been “rewarded” by President Bongbong Marcos Jr., with the chairmanship of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), admitted that weeks or days before the end of the Duterte administration, he cancelled the deal for Russia’s supply of 16 Mi-17 transport helicopters worth some P12.7 billion ($227 million). The cancellation, he said was with the approval of Pres. Duterte.

His decision to scrap the deal follows, also days before the end of the Duterte administration, the abrogation by foreign affairs secretary Teddy Locsin of the joint oil exploration deal between China and the Philippines in the contested areas of the South China Sea. Locsin also bared that the cancellation was with the approval of Pres. Duterte.

But while Locsin made a lot of noise of hiding the real reason why he convinced Pres. Duterte to throw out the agreement with China like raising the issue of a possible “constitutional crisis,” and appeal to our patriotism, Lorenzana, true to his being an honest and modest man was direct to the point—he feared the threat of US “sanctions” against the Philippines, in the light of Russia’s SMO in Eastern Ukraine, according to his statement to the mainstream media.

As America has always considered us, our officials included, as still its vassal state and its most loyal puppet this side of the Pacific and as true-blue Amboy, Lorenzana had to do what Washington wants him and the Philippine government to always do—implement the dictates of the US government.

And knowing too, President Duterte and his fierce independence and pride as our leader, we are sure Lorenzana and Locsin worked very hard to convinced him into capitulating, once again– and our national pride and our national leaders’ constitutional duty to uphold our sovereignty in all its details and generalities, be damned.

Nowadays, the “big talk” in the mainstream media and even among the so-called ‘experts’ after Lorenzana’s admission of cowardice in the face of US bullying is, ‘Can we still get back the P2 billion deposit we gave to the Russians?’

Insofar as we are concerned, this is not only a ‘diversionary’ question but also, ridiculous.

For the big and real issue here is, ‘How do expect to be treated seriously and with respect as a sovereign country if we cannot honor a deal because we are cowards in the face of US bullying?’

In other words, how can the larger international community trust us as a nation and a people knowing fully well that our words are nothing without the imprimatur of the White House and the US State Department?

Simply put, when shall we stop embarrassing ourselves before the world? As a people, do we really lack the spine to stand up on our own? Must all we have to do forever is bow down to US Diktats?