PH, US ties likened to tortoise, hare fable
General Eduardo Año, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff, said the friendship and partnership between the Philippines and United States could be likened to the story of “The Hare and the Tortoise” by Aesop.
At the closing of the Balika-
tan Exercises 2017 Friday at the AFP Commissioned Officers Club (AFPCOC) in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Ano said the story could be a source of inspiration for the two countries’ continued partnerships.
Ano narrated: The hare and the tortoise had a race at which the hare took off quickly, but halfway through, it decided to take a nap. As it did, the tortoise kept moving until it won the race. But the story did not end there.
Ano said there were three additional races in the story.
“In the first sequel, the hare challenged the tortoise to a rematch. This time, the hare ran swiftly and never stopped, easily winning the race. Learning from its loss, the tortoise proposed a third race – with a new route. The race started just like before, but the new route included a river without any bridges or rafts. As the hare continued to think about ways to cross, the tortoise easily traversed and crossed the finish line first.
“Because of the race, the hare and tortoise spent so much time together that they became friends. They decided to have a fourth race, but this time, not against each other – but against time. Both felt they could break the course record if they capitalized on each other’s strengths,” Año said.
“As the race started, the hare carried the tortoise on its back. When they got to the river, they switched and the hare rode the back of the tortoise. And when they got to the other side they switched again all the way to the finish line and came in at record time,” Año said.
Strength in diversity
Año said as friends, the hare and the tortoise were able to commit themselves to a common goal. It was by complementing each other’s strengths and with mutual respect that they were able to break the course record.
“Let us work together to enable us to provide our nations an environment of peace and security where we can all mutually prosper. May our diversity be our strength while we continue to keep our partnership strong and be always united in serving our country and our people,” he said.
After hearing Ano’s story, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told the audience about a fifth race, but this time the hare, the tortoise and the kangaroo were already a team.
“The three were racing against the bear and the dragon and of course the three-member team won, end of the story!,” Lorenzana said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Some of those who heard Lorenzana’s remarks speculated that the hare, tortoise and kangaroo were the allies US, the Philippines and Australia while the bear and the dragon were presumed to be Russia and China.
Humanitarian exercise
Aside from Año and Lorenzana, present during the closing ceremony were United States Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ariel Y. Abadilla, Brig. Gen. Brian C. Cavanaugh, US Assistant Exercise Director; Lt. Gen. Oscar Lactao, the chief of the AFP Central Command (CentCom) and Philippine Exercise Director and Maj. Gen. Herminigildo Francisco C. Aquino, Philippine Assistant Exercise Director.
The Balikatan Exercise 33-2017 kicked off with activities in Panay, Leyte and Samar where US and Filipino troops worked together to renovate five schools and held community medical missions for local residents in the opening days of the 12-day activity.
The scaled-down training focused on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations to improve response speed and efficiency in the event of natural disasters and emergency situations that endanger public health and safety.
Aside from Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, the Balikatan activities were held in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija; Calayan Island, Cagayan; 5th Infantry Division headquarters in Isabela and Samar.