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)A 6( 2P( 6 Malacaxang should see to it that the excite ment over the visit of US President %arack 2bama does not raise ex pectation that the United States is now willing to tangle with China over its territorial disputes with the Philippines.
et us not oversell the 2bama visit and the usual pep talk, the stirring speeches about our two countries’ long history of collaboration. et us not raise false hopes over the newly signed Enhanced efense Cooperation Agreement.
Actually, nothing much has changed on the ground and out there on the South China Sea. The Chinese intruders are still there. And we )ilipinos are back, like ants retracing disturbed pathways, to the harsh reality of having to eke out a living. ,t is time we wiped clean our foggy glasses.
12 P( 0A1(1 ( ,t is alarming that Philippine leaders, and eYen media, haYe been hypnoti ed by the repetitiYe mention of the selling point that the latest reincarnation of 86 military bases is 12 P( 0A1(1 so not to worry.
2f course these Agreed ocations the new alias giYen the bases are not permanent ut their temporariness is no big deal, because nothing in the intercourse among nations is permanent. hat is a giYen.
(Yen the original -year Yirtual perpetual lease of the old 86 installations, among them lark, 6ubic and -ohn ay, was not permanent. y pulling and pushing together — like what fired-up youths did with the 0endiola barricades — )ilipinos were able to get back the bases lands.
hen President )erdinand 0arcos was able to reduce the lease period and raise the rent. heir temporary stay tapered off till the contract e pired in despite the unprecedented street marching of ory Aquino, then the president , for the e tension of the bases contract.
: A :( *2 Although counted among )ilipinos whose blood commingled with that of American com rades in the battlefield, Mr. Marcos kept driving a hard deal, seeking to maximize the bases’ benefits versus the erosion of sovereignty, abuse of the natives, D .
This time, the realists among us ask what President 1oynoy ATuino has gotten for us for the Agreed oca tions that can be anywhere the US wants them with Malacaxang’s obedient nod .
,n return, the Americans promised to be there to help when natural disasters strike. %ut nations do not need a treaty or an executive agreement before scrambling to help friends in distress.
They also promised to help set up a coastal watch and information sharing system. :e have just been inveigled to get involved deeper in US intelligence gathering.
: A :( , 1 *( hey did not promise to help ferry men and supplies ne t time we sailed to Ayungin shoal and played SD L with the hinese coast guard smarting from our outsmarting them last time by maneuYering to shallower waters where they could not follow.
he 86 also did not promise to grab back for us Panatag shoal off ambales that the hinese sei ed after President Aquino, in a baffling decision, ordered )ilipino boats to pull out and surrender that rich fishing ground to the poachers.
Panatag aka 6carborough , btw, is familiar to Americans. he 86 conducted in the s a mapping surYey of the area some miles from their 6ubic naYal base and eYen used the area for target practice.
', , The E CA pronounced “E SA” for nos talgic effect does not mention any US promise to give us a few repainted, but disarmed, naval vessels or a flight of jet fighters plucked out from their junkyard.
This despite President ATuino’s making an embar rassing D during the globally televised joint presidential press briefing last Monday that this Pacific partner of the US does not even have a single jet fighter plane to protect Philippine air and maritime space.
:hat the page E CA did mention was that com mitments made were subject to the parties’ budgeting and congressional approval. :hat a convenient excuse for not offering bases compensation similar to those extracted by Mr. Marcos during his time.
0, , A 1A 8 ( he agreement did not mention any payment package for the use of the Agreed ocations. :as 2bama afraid the dollars might Must Yanish in a AP type of pork barrel
elated to funding, one psychological adYantage of packaging the contract as a treaty approYed by the 86 6enate is that it presupposes although does not guarantee faYorable follow-up action such as the appropriation of funds needed to implement the treaty.
6en. 0iriam 6antiago had a point in saying the ( A should be a treaty mutually concurred in by the 6enates of the two countries not really because of that funding aspect, but because of its resurrecting the bases issue already buried in history and lahar.
alling them Philippine bases that are merely being used by foreign troops N D L to pre-position disaster relief goods will not hide the truth of their military strategic nature.
,f our leaders have to be true to their oaths to uphold the Constitution, they should in sist that bases that are to be set up or used by a foreign power be covered by a proper treaty.
,n fact, it is not just bases that must be covered by a treaty. The ban in Section of Article 9,,, of the Constitution does not refer only to bases, but also to the local operation of foreign “troops or facilities.”
The insertion of “facilities” must have been an anticipation of the same evasive terminology that the Marcos regime used in in calling them Philippine bases albeit with US “facilities” on them.
At this point, let me reiterate my stand on foreign bases , favor having American bases in pre agreed areas in the Philippines provided they are authorized by a proper treaty marked by mutual respect and reciprocity. (6(A Access past P2STSCR,PTs at PD D PD F P )ollow us via F P D F D Email feedback to D F D PD F P