LAST September 29, 2022, Department of National Defense (DND) senior undersecretary and officer-in-charge, Jose Faustino Jr., was in Hawaii for a meeting—“paying homage is more appropriate”—with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin, who, like Faustino, our former Armed Forces chief of staff, is also a retired US Army general.
Both the texts of the transcript of the meeting provided by the DND and the DOD released afterwards were bland enough—all generalities no specifics—in order not to raise concern or suspicion as to how far Faustino has pushed the envelope insofar as committing our country to further American interference insofar as our national security and independence is concerned.
But even so, we are alarmed over Faustino’s repeated claim that our 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty remains the “basis” of our national defense policy and the “key pillar” of PH-US bilateral relations.
We are bothered too that playing directly into US Imperialism’s propaganda against China, Faustino now considered our disputed claim at the South China as the “Philippines’ foremost security concern,” as he described the situation there as “volatile.”
Since when did our diplomatic row with China, Vietnam and other claimants at the South China been our “foremost security concern” until US Imperialism came along to impose this position on us? For all along, our foremost national security has always been the CPP-NPA and the Muslim extremist groups. And there is the issue of territorial claim on Sabah too, should it not be our other foremost security concern?
Too, Faustino, despite playing lip service to the presence of more than 150,000 Filipinos working in Taiwan and our lang-standing policy of seeking peace and diplomacy in the settlement of international issues by invoking our defense arrangement with US Imperialism under the MDT.
Article 5 of our MDT with Uncle Sam provides that “an armed attack on either of the Parties is deemed to include an armed attack on the metropolitan territory of either of the Parties, or on the island territories under its jurisdiction in the Pacific Ocean, its armed forces, public vessels or aircraft in the Pacific.”
But since we don’t have any military base outside of our shores and since only the US has turned the entire Pacific Ocean as its own backyard dotted with lots and lots of its military installations, is Faustino now saying that we are now obliged to go to war against any foreign power but presumably China, should any of the US bases is attacked?
Are we committed to go to war should any hostile force attack say, not Taiwan but Japan, South Korea or Guam instead?
And over the way the US is instigating war and lawlessness in all parts of the world, it may not be too soon that it meets its comeuppance. What then for us?
We repeat here that we always have had a very unequal partnership and relationship with the United States as our history has shown.
And if Faustino wants to believe that Uncle Sam now considers as “family” as what Austin claimed, he is wrong.
By his over eagerness to please our American Overlord, he is making us as cannon fodders in America’s coming wars in this part of Asia.
The blood of Filipinos that would soon flow from this war is in his hands, even now.