DESPITE the “wish” of Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Ralph Recto for the Philippines to join the rising ‘BRICS’ global economic alliance, it is the BRICS countries who are not keen in having the country become part of its membership due to its continuing subservience to the United States.
The limit to the Philippines’ membership aspiration even as “partner country,” is made clear by Prof. Kishore Mahbubani, former foreign minister of Singapore and a respected diplomat in the ASEAN region.
“The United States doesn’t want any of its allies to join BRICS,” Mahbubani stated matter-of-factly last October 22, when he was invited as guest speaker at the ’50th Philippine Business Conference’ organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) and which was also graced by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte.
Despite Recto’s “wish list,” Mahbubani further suggested that the country should be content with its membership with the Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), of which the Philippines was a founding member when it was organized in 1976 in Bali, Indonesia.
“Asean is enough to give the Philippines the boost that it needs. But on BRICS, I think you have to be more careful,” Mahbubani cautioned, as quoted by The Manila Times.
BRICS countries, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, hence the acronym, held its successful 16th Summit in Kazan, Russia from October 22 to October 24, hosted by Russia.
Despite a concerted effort by the US and the West to downplay the gathering in their campaign to isolate Russia over the latter’s incursion into eastern Ukraine in early 2022, the campaign failed. 24-heads of states including United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres, 42 delegations from 36 countries comprising 5,000 delegates, 6 international organizations and over 2,000 members of the global press attended the gathering.
Under the theme, ‘Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security, BRICS accepted as “partner country” the pillars of Asean growth, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Malaysia.
Under the ‘BRICS Plus’ format, the group also accepted the formal membership of Iran, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Ethiopia. Two more expected members, Argentina and Saudi Arabia, declined, due to US pressure.
Among others, the BRICS is offering its members an alternative payment system away from the stranglehold of the US dollar, which has been used by the United States to punish countries it did not like or veering away from US policies and hegemony thru sanctions and blocking them from the US-established global financial system or ‘SWIFT’ (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication).
In the Joint Declaration approved by the participants at the conclusion of the BRICS Summit in Kazan on October 24, the group reiterated its commitment to the “spirit of mutual respect and understanding, sovereign equality, solidarity, democracy, openness, inclusiveness, collaboration and consensus.”
BRICS also made known its rejection of the “disruptive effect of unlawful unilateral coercive measures, including illegal sanctions, on the world economy, international trade, and the achievement of the sustainable development goals,” a clear reference to the US and its minions in Europe, further noting.
“Such measures undermine the UN Charter, the multilateral trading system, the sustainable development and environmental agreements. They also negatively impact economic growth, energy, health and food security exacerbating poverty and environmental challenges.”
As a known servant of the United States and propagator of its policies, the Philippines has a remote chance of being admitted to BRICS, as no founding member is willing to sponsor the country’s candidacy even as a partner country.