I think the invitation by US President Joe Biden to visit the White House will give BBM much time to rethink and redefine the country’s stand with China.
Our relations with the two countries have become paradox; that the US is now becoming more of a problem than a solution to our security.
Foremost, the contempt order issued by that crackpot judge in Hawaii remains legally stale but can be activated any time after BBM performs his “official role” as head of state after his homage to the While House.
BBM has a $353 million contempt judgment issued by the Hawaii Circuit.
According to the US Chargė d’ Affaires Heather Variava, immunity will be given to him “in his official role” as head of State of the son of the dictator they ousted from power.
The big catch is for how long will the immunity last? The lifting of the contempt order does not say whether it will become permanent or will be reinstated after his state visit.
The US will always argue that the issue belongs to the court to decide not by mere policy declaration.
In other words, what will be given to BBM is a mere pass to enter the US and not a grant of immunity as many understood.
The amount of $353 million is not an ordinary amount for an economy that is now scouring for help to support its proxy war in Ukraine.
From the Philippine standpoint, our support today for keeping of those various defense structures the US has set up has become more of a problem than a solution to our problems.
Some say, the US purposely bequeath things to purposely keep our mind busy.
Ideally, the country should take the position of only securing its own interest.
The country should stop relying on the US, that it will come to our rescue in the event the country is attacked by a foreign power.
But things have drastically changed since 1986. The invitation to BBM to visit may appear that the US is seeking penance to the most dastard act of ousting his father’s government from power.
The contempt order for him to pay $353 million is a remnant the US would have hard time to squelch.
But with these pending issues that remain unresolved, would the Philippine-China relations not be affected should BBM decide to accept the visit to the White House?
Others would prefer to interpret the invitation as testing the waters.
By now, BBM should know as to who needs who in this part of the world.
Not understanding this simple deduction is like playing ignorant about the concept of power play.
By visiting Washington, BBM would have lost the bargaining leverage he has to exact from the US.
Moreover, any negotiation that may take place during the visit will surely work to the advantage of the US.
Although the US and China are engaged in a tight struggle, the determination of that struggle still lies in the Philippines.
This explains why the US wanted to keep their bases. In fact, the additional bases are all facing the South China Sea.
The problem is that the Philippines could not digress as to who needs who in this game of power dominance in the South China Sea.
Because of our inability to consider the US as our ally and defender against possible Chinese aggression, the US takes advantage of the premise that we need the US for our defense.
This view continues to linger in the thoughts of our traditional pollical analysts.
BBM has to bear in mind that the US needs more allies in its struggle for supremacy in Asia-Pacific rim, than the Philippines need them to contribute to the fancy of the arms suppliers to sustain US ambition.
To drive the point, the US keeps on pounding to our head the need to retain the bases here in the Philippines and the freedom to access to the archipelago at any time.
The China threat is just a facade to cover its desire to control the Philippine archipelago while the threat of China is to bamboozle into the minds of Filipinos that China is about to occupy us.
The Philippines should get rid of the myth that we remain forever under the clutches of Uncle Sun for our security and protection.
The country has conditionally been focused on that even as US state department secretary Anthony Blinken said, to quote: “China’s increasingly aggressive and expansive authoritarian one-party state, and another anchored by President Joe Biden’s conception of a bulwark of allies and partners committed to democracy, human rights and the “international rules-based order.”
In other words, our minds have long been conditioned that the US will always come to our side.
Many, up to now, do not realize that the successive US defeat forced them to adopt the concept of “proxy war.”
The concept of letting others bleed for another’s cause is so significant to amplify the importance of the US bases.
Reading the provisions of the Visiting Forces Agreement nd Enhance Cooperation Defense Agreement is more than enough to tell us that that US policy makers have been preparing the minds of the Filipinos people that China is our enemy.
Objectively, our alliance with the US resulted in our being politically isolated instead of gaining more friends.
We are looked upon as pariah, and an America’s errand boy acting in accordance to what was instructed to us.
Former President Marcos himself realized that the determination of what constitute the country’s national interest is for the people themselves to know.
Our interest cannot be augmented by our alliance with the West or allowing them to have military bases, because for all their good intentions, each has its own motivation.
Our neutrality, in truth, is hated by the US because it reflects a departure from the alliances they created for Asia-Pacific.
The US realizes that it cannot fight China, which explains why it has to seek alliances with countries like Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. Even countries located outside of the geo-political nomenclature like India were included to give it a semblance of control over the Indo-Pacific and so with UK which is deeply embedded in Europe.
The victory of BBM is ominous of a changing political wind in Asia.
The return of BBM is doubly significant because it marked the reversal of the tide of American propaganda, that former President Marcos is a dictator, human rights abuser and who opposed the traditional American values.