Our mythical ‘Holy Grail’

THE Ukraine War is all over except for the final details of the US-Russia agreement. Painfully for Ukraine, it does not even have a ‘seat’ at the peace talks table.

Worse, a word war ensued between patron and client, as US Pres. Trump called Ukrainian President Zelensky a “dictator” after he tried to resist Trump’s demand for Ukraine’s $ 500-billion lithium deposits as a “reimbursement” for US aid given in the war.

This is the ‘Thank You’ from Uncle Sam that Ukraine got for sacrificing 1-million dead Ukrainian soldiers, a million-and-a-half wounded, a demolished economy with 70 percent of its energy grid wiped out and over 10 million of its former population of 40 million displaced as refugees or illegal migrants in Europe.

All these disasters in only 3-years after the start of Russia’s SMO (Special Military Operation) to stop Ukraine entry into NATO, a ‘red line’ that Russia repeatedly warned about but ignored by Zelensky and his Western curators.

Last February 12, the global news platforms echoed this CNN headline, “Hegseth (Trump’s defense secretary) rules out NATO membership for Ukraine.”

‘The United States does not believe that NATO membership for Ukraine is a realistic outcome of a negotiated settlement,’ Hegseth said, thus shattering Zelensky’s last hope of getting under the NATO protective umbrella.

Zelensky’s predicament gives new life to Kissinger’s axiom: “To be an enemy of America is dangerous, to be a friend of America is fatal.”

The Philippines under Bongbong Marcos has become the closest “bosom friend” of America, under the tight grasp of the claws of the American Eagle.

In exchange, the Philippines was given its own ‘Holy Grail’ that it believes would mean America’s ‘ironclad’ protection– the West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue, which was first heard from Hillary Clinton in 2011 when she announced America’s “Pivot to Asia” on board an American gunboat.

The U.S. proxies started using it thereafter with the late Noynoy Aquino even issuing an administrative order creating a ‘West Philippine Sea’ in 2012.

In history and lore, many have died in search for the Holy Grail. Sir Galahad from the story of King Arthur and his ‘Knights at the Round Table’ was supposed to have found it, drank from it and died instantly.

Filipinos are made to believe their Holy Grail, the WPS, is something to fight and die for, even inviting Western and Asian imperialists (collective West and Japan) to jointly confront China.

China, of course, will “swallow” the Philippine armed forces and its “allies” like the whale does the krill.

For the Philippines to avoid a tragedy that is Ukraine is so easy– just heed China’s proposal for both sides to “meet halfway.”

However, this is not possible while the U.S. and its proxy oligarchs believe they can get their monopoly over the SCS oil and gas deposits even over the dead bodies of Filipinos in case of war with China.

Take note: Indonesia and China have started talks on joint oil and gas development in their areas of overlapping claims.

The Philippines, under Pres. Duterte had a joint oil development agreement with China earlier in 2021 but was scuttled by US proxy, Teddy Locsin and then made “permanent” by a ruling of the Supreme Court in 2023.