The mess Aquino created for Duterte

The demise of a former President of the Philippines, no matter how controversial, is always a cause for grief for the Filipino people. After all, during any President’s incumbency, he is the person every Filipino listens to whenever the country has a problem.

Former President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III passed away last 24 June after a lingering illness.

In deference to the high office Aquino held, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte declared a 10-day period of national mourning. He publicly extolled Aquino as the nation’s 11th President, and flags in all government offices were flown at half-mast.

Prior to his death, Aquino had been the occasional subject of public discourse by the Duterte administration on account of Aquino’s association with the Liberal Party (LP) which, out of sheer desperation, has been criticizing the administration no end.

When news of Aquino’s demise was made public, the Duterte administration halted its criticism of the late President out of respect for the memory of the departed.

Surprisingly, however, the talking heads of the LP started exploiting the situation a day after Aquino’s passing. LP senators began calling Aquino’s death a potential catalyst for the political opposition and the voters to reject President Duterte’s administration and, ultimately, his anointed candidates in the 2022 national elections.

Soon thereafter, LP handlers were all praising Aquino, and their praises were dutifully covered by the news media.

Those praises include assertions that Aquino was a competent President, and that he stood up against China by spearheading the case against Beijing in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Netherlands over China’s illegal activities in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In July 2016, the PCA ruled in favor of the Philippines.

The official mourning period over Aquino’s passing has ended, but that does not necessarily open the way for a renewal of tirades against the former President and the way he ran the government during his watch. It does not follow, however, that the supporters of the current administration should just sit pat and relax, and let the LP disinformation campaign continue unabated. It’s time to set the historical record straight.

While it is true that it was Aquino who initiated the case against China in the PCA, it must be emphasized that it was Aquino’s improvidence which created the need for the Philippines to lodge that arbitration case in the first place.

Prior to China’s unmitigated aggression in the WPS, the Philippines was, legally speaking, in full, open and notorious possession of the shoals in the WPS currently in Chinese control. Philippine ships were more or less permanently moored at those shoals to assert Philippine sovereignty over them. The presence of Philippine ships anchored at those shoals prevented Chinese vessels from forcibly seizing those shoals because to do so will constitute unwarranted aggression and will invite world condemnation against Beijing.

Keeping Philippine ships moored at those shoals was sound strategy because under International Law, possession of disputed territory is a marked advantage over claimants to the same.

Unfortunately, Aquino and his advisers like then Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario heard unverified accounts of a possible deal purportedly brokered by the United States to the effect that Chinese vessels will withdraw from the disputed area if Philippine ships were to do the same. Relying on those unverified accounts, Aquino ordered the withdrawal of Philippine ships from the disputed shoals, without even at least demanding that China should withdraw its vessels simultaneously.

As a result, China exploited the withdrawal of Philippine ships and moored its own ships where Manila’s vessels had left. Since then, China has been in possession of the disputed territory.

To save face, Aquino initiated the arbitration case against China.

From the start of the case, Aquino knew that even if the Philippines won its case in the arbitration court, Manila will not be able to enforce its victory against Beijing because the communist Chinese government refuses to recognize the jurisdiction of the PCA.

In June 2016, Aquino left office a month before the PCA ruling came out. In doing so, Aquino handed over his mess to President Duterte. Today, Aquino’s LP scores President Duterte’s way of resolving the mess Aquino created.

“LP senators began calling Aquino’s death a potential catalyst for the political opposition and the voters to reject President Duterte’s administration.

“From the start of the case, Aquino knew that even if the Philippines won its case in the arbitration court, Manila will not be able to enforce its victory against Beijing.