Harris Potter
SIMPLY meaning someone who makes a living out of pottery, the word “potter” has come to be a corrupted version of the formal English noun “potterer,” and in the hands of a creative writer has evolved into a word descriptive of wizardry and deceit.
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. quite fell short of putting it that way when he welcomed US Vice President Kamala Harris to Malacañang last Monday, November 22.
“It’s unfortunate,” Bongbong told the US vice president, “that this is such a quick visit. We would have hoped to have shown you more of the Philippines, although I suppose you actually are doing that because you’ll see some of the prettiest parts of the Philippines in Palawan.”
“Yes,” said the lady executive, unsuspecting of the veritable trap she was getting into.
“And I’m sure you are not going to the resorts and the beaches,” Bongbong said, evidently in a vein of humor.
Caught off-guard, Vice President Harris laughed aloud at Bongbong’s insinuation on her actual intentions in going to Palawan.
“That’s not in my heart’s chosen direction,” she said laughing, eliciting Bongbong’s laughter so loud one had a hard time making out her exact words. At any rate, the laughter of the two as well as that of their respective panels of officials at the meeting did lighten up the occasion, setting the tone for the eventual segue to serious discussion.
After an exchange of firm commitment of each other’s fidelity to what they agree as the legacy of friendship and defense alliance that the two believe have characterized the relationship between the Philippines and the United States, Bongbong assured Harris, as he has proclaimed it time and again, “I don’t see a future of the Philippines that does not include the United States.”
Does Bongbong realize that such a proclamation is being made at a time when the US is enmeshed in animosities the world over? The war in Ukraine, the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Strait, North Korea’s nuclear missile launches that display a capacity to hit as far as the US, and US insistence on meddling in the affairs of the Indo-Pacific region are some of the major “futures” the United States will surely be shaping up for the Philippines.
In fact, in her eventual visit to Puerto Princesa in Palawan, Vice President Harris made a strong indication of exactly what kind of future the Philippines will have in its relationship with the United States. It is a future that first and foremost has the Philippines engaging China in heightened belligerence, one akin to the situation the country was in under the administration of the late President Benigno Aquino 3rd when none of the massive infrastructure developments achieved by the administration of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was in place; when China imposed economic sanctions on the Philippines resulting in zero Chinese imports of Philippine agricultural products like bananas, vegetables and livestock; when China’s embargo saw the country suffering from zero Chinese tourist arrivals all throughout the six-year term of PNoy, contrasted by the succeeding Duterte administration when the lifting of China’s embargoes resulted in millions of dollars infused into the Philippine economy through the resumption of massive Philippine export to China of agricultural products along with the influx of Chinese tourists who suddenly took over the No. 1 slot of tourist arrivals in the country, replacing the previous topnotcher South Korea. At the moment, potential for real Philippine economic growth is great within the partnerships started by China and the Philippines under
the Duterte administration, like the joint oil exploration on Recto or Reed Bank, all at China’s expense yet at a 60-percent sharing by the Philippines in the proceeds. All the gains achieved by the Duterte administration from Philippine-China relations are, after the Harris pronouncements, bound for naught if Bongbong persists in tying the Philippines’ future with the United States.
Speaking to troops of the Philippine Coast Guard aboard the BRP Teresa Magbanua, Harris declared, “As an ally, the United States stands with the Philippines in the face of intimidation and coercion in the South China Sea. As the United States has long made clear, we support the 2016 ruling of the UN arbitration tribunal which delivered a unanimous and final decision finally rejecting China’s expansive South China Sea maritime claims. The tribunal decision is legally binding and must be respected. We will continue to value our allies and partners against unlawful and irresponsible behavior.”
Of course, Harris did not say that having been arrived at without the participation of China, the arbitration ruling cannot be binding on China. For where on earth has there been an arbitration for just one party? The very term “arbitration” makes it imperative that there are two parties to the dispute subject of arbitration. The fact that China refused to participate in the proceedings should make such so-called arbitration invalid.
To begin with, the arbitral proceedings by the so-called Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague came about as a unilateral recourse for the Philippines from the country’s debacle at the Scarborough Shoal stand-off between ships of the Philippine Navy and that of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in 2012. Then President Benigno Aquino 3rd backed off from the standoff; later reports disclosed that the retreat was underhandedly prompted by the United States in favor of pursuing the dispute through the PCA arbitral proceedings. Clearly then, for the Philippines to insist on the 2016 PCA ruling would be to uphold only the United States insistence in meddling in the affairs of the South China Sea region. And yet the Philippines is signatory to the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea concluded between China and Asean nations which provide for nonintervention by any outsider in the region’s affairs. What was Vice President Harris’ declaration in Palawan but a reiteration of the US’ intransigent insistence in meddling in the affairs of the South China Sea region?
Certainly, the declaration was, as in black magic, couched in deceit and subterfuge, in the pretext of advancing the “international rules-based order” which are actually exclusive US notions as the Harris potter expressed thus: “To protect the economic vitality of this community (Barangay Tagburos in Puerto Princesa, Palawan), to protect the ecosystem and save lives, to protect lives and livelihood, we must uphold international rules and norms. And that is why our work here is so very important. We must stand up for principles such as respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, unimpeded lawful commerce, the peaceful resolution of disputes, and of freedom of navigation and overflights in South China Sea and throughout the Indo-Pacific. To the Philippine Coast Guard, you are the frontline in standing up for international rules-based order. Each and every day, as you control these waters, you uphold the rules and norms that are vital to the prosperity of the Filipino people and people around the world.”
And then at the final instance, voila, Harris proclaims the paramount wizardry: “America’s prosperity relies on the billions of dollars that flow through these waters every day. And we are proud to work with you in your mission.”
Whose mission? That of the Philippine Coast Guard. Whose prosperity? “America’s prosperity relies on the billions of dollars that flow through these waters every day.”
As it was in the beginning, so it is to this very day. At no instance in modern history has the Philippines been under any foreign aggression but by America. Moreover, the Philippines has been ever a bootlicker to the US in its war adventures, like the Philcag contingent in the Vietnam war in the 1960s or the Philippine troops’ participation in the Coalition of the Willing aggression in Iraq in 2003.
Make no mistake, whenever America talks of prosperity of the Philippines, it is Philippine prosperity for America. This much the Harris visit has just underscored. It’s really unfortunate that President Bongbong Marcos, though realizing early on Harris’ real intention in visiting Palawan, appears willing to swallow her potter hook, line and sinker: China behave or else… Trouble is, China won’t take the dare sitting down. Come January, when Bongbong is set to visit Beijing, China gets the opportunity to lay its cards on the table. Let’s see how Bongbong navigates through this strait.