FOR about a week, or from September 18 to September 24, 2022, President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr., was in the United States to attend the 77th General Assembly of the United Nations and along the way, paid homage, or rather, had a “talk” with US President Joe Biden, among other world leaders.
And over the way that PBBM and Biden gave generous backstroking to each other, one wonders if PBBM has decided to simply drop the country and his family’s personal bad experience in the hands of the Americans from his memory.
That PBBM appeared to go out of his way to meet the leader of the world’s most bellicose country must have been a delight to Uncle Sam.
It not only saves Biden the time and effort for him to come and “visit” the Philippines but it also, from US Imperialism’s point of view, an act of “revival” of Philippine leaders first seeking the “blessing” of the White House to confirm them in their governance—as if the votes of Filipinos and their interests do not matter at all.
And yes, after the term of Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte who purposely put the US to where it actually belongs—just another foreign government which has no right to interfere in our internal affairs– the efforts of PBBM to “appease” the Americans is truly music to their ears and a sight to behold.
Let us be clear: we support PBBM and his administration. We want it to succeed. That said, we cannot however stand aside while he seems to strive to revive the master and slave relationship that we have had with US Imperialism going to 124 years now.
If we are to distill the lessons of our history during this past 124 years, it can be summarized in a few words: America has never been and would never be, our “friend.” America is a “user” and we are only “valued” as its “friend” and “ally” for as long as we can be used to serve its hegemonic and imperialist interests.
And presently, what does the US wants from us? For Filipinos to shed their blood to the last drop in the war it is preparing against China thru the reoccupation of as many of our territory as a war base against China.
The way the Ukrainians are now sacrificing their blood to the last drop over the imperialist-instigated war in Ukraine in order to destroy Russia.
Aside from their being “shanghaied” to Hawaii in 1986 and forced to live as virtual prisoners there by the Americans in order to please their new puppet, Pres. Corazon Aquino, PBBM should also remember that after President Joseph Estrada got to approve the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) in 1999, he too, was jettisoned by Uncle Sam less than two years later, in January 2001—by supporting the coup against him where the instigators are Army officers all trained and “nurtured” by the United States.
According to the Roman essayist and writer, Virgil, Laocoon, the Trojan priest, seeing the huge ‘Trojan Horse’ “left” behind by the Greeks as their “gift” to the god Poseidon during the Trojan War, purportedly said, ‘Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes’— “I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts.”
That quote, while uttered more than 3,000 years ago, still rings true in our situation today.
In other words, the more the Americans suffocate us with lavish and grand words, the more we should be afraid and suspicious.
Or should we hear it from America’s most bellicose state secretary, Henry Kissinger, who was reported to have said: “To be an enemy of America is dangerous. To be a friend of America is fatal.”