No place for divisiveness

THE conflict over Scarborough Shoal has also been used by some sectors to bash past and present Philippine governments, notably over our failure to strengthen the country’s Armed Forces. But that is nothing but a product of hindsight, which they say is always 20/20.

Of course, it is correct to say that corruption has hindered the full utilization of the country’s finances, limited as it already is, thus affecting our ability to upgrade the capability of the military, specifically the navy and the air force, to meet external threat.

But it is also correct to say that past governments and the present Aquino administration are finding it difficult to balance spending for basic services with the demands of a primitively equipped armed force.

Having said that, it is also wrong to feel helpless and, worse, to heap insults on our own selves in the midst of what could be a plan by China to bully us into giving up our claim to disputed territories that are close to our shores, like the Scarborough Shoal.

Instead, we should all be one in encouraging our government to find ways to deal with the Chinese threat even if we are obviously at the losing end militarily. Bullying only works if the one being bullied won’t hold his ground. Vietnam’s war with the US decades ago is proof of that.

The Vietnamese obviously couldn’t match up with American military might but they stood their ground and made the war costly for the invading force. That required daring, perseverance and unity.

The Chinese going for a military solution to the dispute in Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys will invite a backlash from the rest of the world. And even if they won’t listen, the Philippines can make Chinese control, if ever, of the disputed territories costly.

The disputed territories are relatively vast and can’t be fenced off by a structure akin to the Chinese “Great Wall.” And they are far from the Chinese mainland, which makes exercising full control over them difficult. They cannot fend off the Filipinos for long.

The point is for the Philippines to stand its ground no matter what the cost. And it pays if we stand united to our claim. Consider that our divisive nature was the bane in our past battles with foreign aggression.