RUSSIAN EMBASSY: RUSSIA IS NOT A COMMUNIST COUNTRY
AS I was reading through the issue of the Manila Times of Sept. 24, 2018 I found another amusing article by Mr. Gil H. Santos, titled “One has to give in” dealing with the trade war between China and the United States, one of the esteemed author’s favorite topics. Initially the article in question is not exactly about Russia, but some statements Mr. G. Santos makes in his stories are so surreal, that one might completely lose sense of reality just by reading them and therefore once again I am compelled to bring it to your attention.
Relations between Russia and the Philippines are currently on the rise and we have yet to explore their full potential. On many occasions I have noticed that one of the factors holding us back is a lack of mutual awareness between Russians and Filipinos. In the most extreme cases people actually still think that the USSR still exists and that Russia is a communist country. Apparently Mr. G. Santos is one of these people.
In the article in question he described recent joint military drills between Russia, China and Mongolia as “another rejuvenated phase of development and cooperation in the remaining communist world.” Among the three countries mentioned by the author, only China is run by a communist party. Both Russia and Mongolia have chosen to turn away from communism to follow different doctrines of socio- economic development. So, what “communist world” is Mr. G. Santos referring to? Apparently Mr. G. Santos is still living in the past century and is still looking for red under every bed as the saying goes.
This is not the first time that I draw your attention to the stories by Mr. G. Santos. By publishing articles full of such absurdities he actually makes the lack of mutual awareness that we are trying desperately to overcome even more dramatic. Apart from that he also keeps damaging the reputation of the Manila Times by printing materials that have more in common with fiction than they do with journalism. In this regard I am kindly asking you to publish this letter or at least to tell Mr. G. Santos to finally bring his grasp of international affairs up to date.
I wish you good health and every success in all your endeavors and look forward to reading the next issue of the Manila Times.
Natalia V. Naumova Press Attaché Russia Embassy