“We should therefore prepare, to the best of our abilities, in the hope that if and when the time comes we can acquit ourselves with honor”
There is no question that PBBM has totally reversed the Duterte administration’s foreign policy towards China and the United States.
While former President Duterte embraced China and scorned the US, PBBM is now aggressively reviving the 2014 EDCA, adding four more AFP military bases for joint use with US military forces for a total of nine.
No wonder US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his team must have gone home grinning from ear to ear for what must have been a very successful trip.
The question now is why the sudden shift from a balancing act of trying to navigate between the two powers to a position clearly favoring our old treaty ally, the US?
This shift shows there is a big difference in the appreciation of the prevailing geopolitical situation in the region between the previous President and our current leader.
Former President Duterte in many of his speeches and pronouncements did not believe that the US when worse comes to shove would in the end be willing to go to war for us.
He reduced the yearly Balikatan military exercises to Civic Action activities to the frustration of his Defense Secretary.
PBBM on the other hand has more faith in the words of the US as shown in his many interviews.
Another possible reason could be that PBBM was left with no or little choice but move closer to the US orbit because of what China’s naval militia has been doing to our fishermen in the WPS.
This does not include some menacing actions of the Chinese Coast Guard like the dangerous use of military grade laser beams.
In the final analysis, however, all relationships whether among humans or countries will always depend on trust.
On this score, it would seem that PBBM is showing he trusts the US more than he trusts China.
In addition, based on some surveys undertaken, so does the Filipino public.
Various pundits whose job is to make commentaries on such government initiatives also seem to show that more of them are in favor of what PBBM did compared to those who are against.
Let us hope, therefore, this is the right and correct move for the sake of our country.
The new agreement as US Defense Secretary Austin said is a big deal.
One reason is because it changes the military equation in the region.
It provides the US with some logistical capabilities that it did not have before the agreement.
The agreement shortens the reaction time of the US in case of any conflict which as we know could be crucial in military operations.
But as the spokesman of the CPP said, it could enhance the chances of the country getting involved and being a target in any conflict between the powers in the region.
China also reacted with a veiled warning to us to be careful not be used as a tool by the US.
This, however, did not seem to have any effect on PBBM because during his just concluded visit to Japan, he and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were reported to have explored the possibility of a tripartite defense agreement with the US.
To those who agree with what the CPP, PBBM in his interviews showed he realizes this but believes that regardless of what we do, he believes we cannot avoid getting involved because of geography not to mention history.
In the last two World Wars, the Low Countries in Europe for example declared their neutrality because they did not want to get involved but were nonetheless invaded.
Perhaps, in the mind of PBBM, it is better to join an alliance for more and better protection than being swallowed up with no chance at all.
This is partly because of all the countries in this region with a defense agreement with the US, we have the weakest military capability.
We have a long way to go before we can attain a credible defense capability.
This is why what our military strategic plans devised by our defense leaders are crucial in relation to all these military agreements we entered into.
All of them must be integrated to enhance our military posture.
But, in the end, it is best for us to realize that the defense of the country will ultimately be left to us Filipinos.
We should therefore prepare, to the best of our abilities, in the hope that if and when the time comes we can acquit ourselves with honor.
We pray however, that it will never come because, to borrow the words of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, now is not the time for wars.
Now is the time for peace.
So, instead of raising the tensions in the WPS and Taiwan Strait, the big powers should simmer down on their rhetoric and military drills to lower the tension.
As the Ukrainian conflict is showing, the noncombatants are the ones suffering the most which could have been avoided if leaders were only willing to sit down and talk.