The entire nation is a little bit more stupid, now that Miriam Defensor Santiago is gone. And the Senate—let’s not even talk about how badly it’s been faring since Miriam left.
The poet who said that each death diminishes us all must have been talking about us losing Miriam. We know, deep in our hearts, that we are all less brave, less brilliant, less worthy of admiration now that she has passed on.
Miriam was a blazing beacon in the darkness of our politics. We should be so lucky to have someone, someday rise from the murk to take her place.
Thank you, Miriam, for everything you did for your country. A grateful nation salutes you for your long and distinguished service.
As for me, I shall never forget the words of wisdom you dispensed nearly three decades ago, when I was just a greenhorn reporter and you were already a much-respected Quezon City judge. I shall forever cherish the memory of our first meeting and have been an unabashed fan of yours since then.
Miriam Santiago may be dead, but the pursuit of excellence goes on. Thank you, Judge, for the enduring inspiration.
But if I may disagree with my late idol, I don’t really believe that stupid is forever. Miriam, on the other hand, is.
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The America-loving among us (and there are many of them) have raised the specter of impending economic ruin if President Rodrigo Duterte continues to make noises about improving ties with China. But while these people warn darkly about the collapse of our economy if Duterte keeps giving Uncle Sam the cold shoulder, they never talk of about what we can possibly gain from the Chinese, if we increase trade with them.
First of all, I’ve often wondered why improved relations with the Chinese (or the Russians, for that matter) has to be framed in such grim Cold War terms. Especially since the Obama administration announced this week that it has no problems with the Philippines, being a sovereign state, seeking better economic deals and arrangements with its neighbors.
This week, during a reception in Manila on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, Ambassador Zhao Jianhua put things in their proper context. Noting that relations between the two countries have been improving “beautifully” since Duterte’s election, Zhao said the Chinese would rather think that the Philippines and its superpower neighbor are connected by the South China Sea, instead of being separated by it.
Why can’t we improve ties with China and keep our excellent relations with the US, is what I want to know. That Yellow somos o no somos thinking is so passe.
* * *
The thawing of relations between Manila and Beijing after a disastrous six-year unilateral freezing by the US-oriented Aquino administration could not have come at a more appropriate time. By the end of this year, the Philippines will have to pay membership dues in the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which will allow Manila to access cheap funding for much-needed infrastructure projects.
While the concurrence of the Senate is still required for membership in AIIB, the Duterte administration has already allocated funds representing Manila’s paid-in capital as a founding member of the new multilateral funding agency. Finance officials have promised to work hard to get the concurrence of the Senate and to fund the capital requirements out of contingency funds in the 2017 national budget, if necessary.
AIIB is similar to the US-led World Bank and the Japan-founded Asian Development Bank, with the only difference being that it was started by China. AIIB has declared that it has upwards of $100 billion to lend to member-countries, money that the Philippines could definitely use for building roads, bridges, seaports and airports that are sorely lacking.
(Even the previous administration, which came so close to war with China because that is what Noynoy Aquino thought the US wanted, could not ignore AIIB. On the very last day of 2015, one day before the deadline, Aquino’s administration signified that Manila wanted to join the bank—never mind if he heckled and threatened the Chinese every chance that he got.)
And Duterte has never called for the Philippines to turn its back on the US, anyway, even if he’s had rough patches with the State Department, US-based human rights groups and media over the implementation of his war on drugs. But he certainly knows that China, even before AIIB was put up, has been funding projects in the Asean region, Africa, the Middle East and South America at concessional interest rates.
For instance, in 2015 and in Asean alone, China invested heavily in Vietnam ($323 million), Malaysia ($408 million), Thailand ($443 million) and Indonesia ($1.328 billion). The Philippines got $24 million in investments from China during the same period.
Of course, we still have issues with China over everything from fishing rights in Scarborough Shoal to the involvement of Chinese nationals in the local illegal drug trade. But Duterte has never set aside these problems and the Chinese know that he never will sell out his own country just to get cheap loans and improve trade.
The important thing to remember is that no one—not Duterte, especially—wants us to turn our backs on the Americans as we pursue better deals with other countries. It’s only the scorched-earth, “mental colony” Yellows who still think that way.