IT BEGAN a week ago, around March 24 2022, in what I assessed initially as a Philippine Coast Guard puff piece about the hiked PCG presence at the Scarborough Shoal and the rise in the numbers of Filipino fishermen fishing there, although I added that it bears watching if it will turn to another anti-China media bashing spree.
I remember adding a flashback to 2016 and 2017 news reported by mainstream media including none other than the most anti-China and pro-American Philippine Daily Inquirer headlining, “Filipino fishermen are back in Scarborough Shoals.”
“Filipino fishermen are back in Scarborough Shoal, DFA says” (ABS-CBN) https://news.abs-cbn.com/focus/07/12/17/filipino-fishermen-are-back-in-scarborough-shoal-dfa-says ).
Peace and renewed productive fishing by Filipino fishermen in the Bajo de Masinloc are not new, but now there is an imbroglio again.
By March 27, 2022, the initial simple “good public relations” piece of the PCG being back in Scarborough made an ugly turn.
The PCG reported the “close distance maneuvering anew” by a Chinese Coast Guard ship at the Scarborough.
The American-Filipino-for-convenience Senator Grace Poe went into a media burst calling for an investigation of the “near collision” – a laughable exaggeration.
Drug case-accused Sen. Leila de Lima who is in prison for drug-dealing would not be silenced too, with news reports saying “De Lima bewails Chinese ship’s dangerous ‘close distance’ maneuvering in the WPS.”
Another dyed-in-the-wool Amboy and Green Card holder and Salim group executive Noynoy foreign secretary Albert del Rosario is headlined by Phil-Star, thus, “Chinese coast guard broke maritime laws,” ad nausea – paroxysms that occur at least every 3-months in our media.
I brought the present allegations of our PCG of said Chinese Coast Guard vessel maneuvering too close to the PCG ship to a retired PCG admiral to get an assessment.
Our retired coast guard admiral said, “This could actually have happened but the anomaly resulting in this furor is that our PCG in this case did not follow the procedure laid down by President Duterte.
“The procedure is to course all reports first through the Office of the President precisely to bring such matters to diplomatic channels first for clarification with the parties concerned and, hopefully, avoid unnecessary diplomatic scenes that are not constructive.”
When, however, when there is a planned “ghost hunt” by Amboy operators, with or without the collaboration of some PCG personnel, they grab such normally innocuous minor incidents and explode it in media.
Once the news is exploded the politicians step in to grandstand, like Grace Poe the American citizen and Filipino-for-convenience; start their song-and-dance, the DFA Amboy (Locsin) gets in the act and due to media pressure, Malacañang has to file a protest to appease the rabble.
Our mainstream media then twists-and-turns the headline to manufacture hate against China, like the Business Mirror headline, “As China bristles, PHL asserts ‘full sovereignty’ over Bajo de Masinloc” which is injecting its own opinion and emotion into the news and attributing base reaction such as the adjective “bristles.”
Without a doubt, behind all these is the main US propaganda machinery. This latest anti-China paroxysm seems to be timed to justify the largest Balikatan military exercise between the US and the PHL, and also serve to distract from a long-awaited China donation of the Intramuros-Binondo Bridge inauguration coming soon.
Few in media has picked up news that goes against this frenzy of anti-China media hypes.
For example, the provincial government of the northern province of Cagayan and many citizens of the Cagayan region oppose the Balikatan live-fire military drills there.
Representing these sentiments is Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba who was even headlined negatively by the Philippine Daily Inquirer last January 13, 2022.
“Pro-China governor opposes PH-US live fire drills,” said the PDI’s pejorative reports, citing Mamba’s reasons as putting “potential Chinese economic investments in the region at risk, according to the avowedly pro-China governor” and that “It may cause a diplomatic row…
“We don’t want to anger China here in Cagayan. We see that we could get help from them… (the drills” may derail the economic blueprints… anchored on the idea of maintaining peaceful and productive relationship with adjacent international partners.”
Mamba was looking out for his constituents’ economic welfare – is that “Pro-China” or just “Pro-Filipino people?”
PDI asks Mamba why he thinks the US and PHL forces want to stage the live-fire drills in Cagayan, Mamba said: “Because you know, Taiwan is a powder keg.” which hits the bull’s eye. This raises the question: Does the PHL want to be the base from which the U.S. launches the Taiwan war against China – like Ukraine being the pawn in a war for US hegemony in Eastern Europe?
Cooperation between the Philippines and China is, however, a way greater reality and the benefits to the Philippines is far more-weighty than these drummed up incidents that are deliberately taken out of context.
Let us all fight America’s plan to ‘Ukrainize’ the Philippines.
(Samahan si Ka Mentong Laurel at mga panauhin sa “Power Thinks” tuwing Miyerkules @6pm Live Global Talk News Radio (GTNR) sa Facebook at sa Talk News TV sa You Tube; at tuwing Linggo 8 to 10am sa RP1 738khz AM sa radyo.)