Apparently miffed by the decision of at least two US agencies to withhold aid for the Philippines because of human rights issues and, quite plausibly, the disturbing declarations about the future of Philippine—US alliance, Mayor Digong, President of the Philippines, has declared that he is willing “to set aside” (so did one news outlet put it) the judgment of the arbitral tribunal, largely in our favor, on the South China issue dispute we have with China.
Once more, we must ask the Department of Clarification and Interpretation to do its task, because I do have serious reservations, on legal grounds, unless these reported statements are qualified. If the President means that, for now, we will not demand of China its compliance with the dispositions of the judgment, that is a matter of strategy and policy that the Constitution entrusts to the navigating skills of the President.
But if he means to renounce the claims of the Republic of the Philippines, that is quite another matter—and something that no president really has the authority to do. When the arbitral tribunal decided the dispute, it declared that we enjoyed sovereign rights over a considerable expanse of the South China Sea – West Philippine Sea lying within our Exclusive Economic Zone. The Constitution does not empower a president to surrender sovereignty, territory or sovereign rights. If anything, the president is sworn to uphold and to defend them.
Meanwhile, waters on the Pacific side of our archipelago have become choppy lately. Soon, they may just be tempestuous and that will be to no one’s advantage. Just after Donald Trump won, I thought the climate would turn a little warmer, but the chill seems to have returned. In unmistakable terms, the President has served notice on the US that he is minded to evict whatever uniformed contingent of the US might still be in the country—this, after announcing that there would be no more war exercises with the US army. Then come the boasts of Cabinet officials that we can do even without US aid. About that, I really would like to read statistics: How much do we receive? How much can be made up for with our own resources? How much is forthcoming from other friends (or opportunists)? I have not seen these figures and in international relations; ill-informed conceits can be very dangerous!
The Americans though have some soul-searching to do too, for they have, in fact, in many ways beggared us. Those who call attention to the unequal treatment of visiting Americans and Filipinos visiting the US make a valid point. Americans come into the country virtually only with their passports. But Filipinos must wait in queues before grumpy consular officers who can ask the most embarrassing questions and then imperiously stamp “Denied” on one’s visa application. And it is also true that the notoriety of US operatives for espionage, hacking and tapping (Angela Merkel has not quite gotten over her victimization!) and the CIA’s history of having interfered in the affairs of foreign governments has hovered like an ominously dark cloud over relations with the US.
But it is not wise to try so hard to be estranged from the US precisely because of the changing politics in this part of the world. You do not shrug off American hegemony by taking on another one, and if you are to choose partners, it still is the wiser thing to do to go with one who has spent some time with you rather than with one with whom you have had nothing more than the political equivalent of a one-night stand.
As for abrogating treaties and shoving international agreements aside, it will not do to be precipitous, because one cannot invoke international law when one has been cavalier in its disregard!