Again, China
t. e n . o y e veraturda, chief of the estern Command based in 3ala an, and - im ome , ssociated 3ress 3 chief corre sSondent, droSSed by olidaridad the other eek and immediately, e talked about 3ala an, the Sratlys and China. , have not been to the island since the )ifties hen all the roads in that island Srovince ere dirt. , had sailed to the southernmost tiS, to alabac on a 1avy Satrol boat ith a cre of commanded by the late leMandro 0elchor ho as then an ensiJn, a fresh Jraduate from nnaSolis in the 8nited tates.
n another triS , also visited Culion, the leSer colony, and , ahiJ, the Senal colony here Claro 0. ecto as im Srisoned briefly for his collaboration ith the -aSanese in orld ar ,,. hat , remember of that visit ere the virJin forests, our ethnic oriJinal settlers. he anthroSoloJist, ob )o , ould discover later on remnants of ancient )iliSinos in the island.
3ala an no is the focus of national attention as a Sristine tourist destination and, most imSortant for us, a naval base is beinJ develoSed there. ,t may be used by the mericans hose Sresence, e hoSe, ill be a deterrent to further Chinese incursions in the Sratlys, larJe Sortions of hich are ithin our territory.
,n the )ifties, the late dmiral omas Cloma took me there in one of his shiSs to hat he called )reedom and. , have al ays ondered hy e didn t Say attention to him and to the Sratlys in Jeneral then. his illustrates aJain ho so many of our leaders lack vision, con cerned as they are only ith their narro Sersonal interests.
he t o maMor islands that ere claimed by dmiral Cloma, says en eral everaturda, are habitable and thriv inJ but he notes that more infrastructures have to be built there.
nd yunJin hoal, ith that old and rustinJ shiS that as beached there, can be maintained for another years or so althouJh doinJ so has become Tuite dif ficult, surrounded as it is by Chinese coast Juard vessels that try to ram our boats hen they venture close to the shoal.
eneral everaturda is fully a are of the danJers that accrue from ultra nationalism inflamed further by ethnicity. ,t can lead to ethnic cleansinJ and the breakuS of nations, as hat haSSened to uJoslavia. his is also true of reliJion as the Srecursor of strife, as is no sun derinJ the 0iddle (ast, here unnis and hiites have traditionally hated one another for more than a thousand years.
e talked about hat transSired in ietnam recently hen the ietnamese, anJered by the SlantinJ of a Jiant oil riJ ithin hat they consider their territorial aters, ent on a ramSaJe and burned Chinese factories, inMured hundreds and killed five Chinese nationals.
his event, said 3 chief corresSon dent -im ome , made headlines all over the orld.
Could such a tragedy occur in the Philippines It is unlikely; of all of the countries in the region with a big Chinese population, the Philippines has been kindest to its Chinese minority. So much so that this tiny minority now controls percent of the Philippine economy; eight of the richest )ilipinos are ethnic Chinese.
It is they who poured the billions they made here into China. There is more )ilipino money now in China than Chinese money in the Philippines. The Chinese in the Philippines who have yet to be truly )ilipino in mind and heart are naturally enthusiastic and proud of China’s rise to power. The more vocal are open in their loyalty and have even stated that the Spratlys really belong to China. Their Chinese-ness overrides the political divide. t the triumph of Mao in , some young Chinese who identified with Mao and the mainland even went to China to help that nation grow. It is the same with a group of )ilipino communists who, having identified their revolution with Mao’s, fled to China at the start of Martial /aw. Indeed, the attraction of the mainland is such that even though China itself has changed tremendously, Mao still has many believers not Must in the Philippines but elsewhere in the underprivileged world where the call to revolution is heeded. :hat to do )irst, let us look at the China of today, which has tremendously changed from the poor, backward nation that Mao unified. It needs raw materials, fuel to energi e its growth engines. It is bursting with pride and ambition no different from Japan in the Thirties; chafing, too, remembering how it was shamed by the western powers at the beginning of the th century when they chopped it up. In its determination to prosper, it feels bo ed in by Japan and the nited States — the S, particularly, which controls two huge oceans, the tlantic and the Pacific. China has only the South China Sea.
But the South China Sea also has 9ietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and China’s bullying has frightened these countries.
2ne thing is sure we have to be able to defend ourselves, and live with China as harmoniously as we can because China is our neighbor. The nited States of merica will not go to war for us. In economic terms alone, merica — like Japan — has reason W to confront China.
*eneral Deveraturda is fully conscious of our military inadequacy like most thinking )ilipinos, he believes our best solution is in diplomacy. nd, like President 5amos, we will engage them in back-channel negotiations and in this manner, our ethnic Chinese can be of
One thing is sure: we have to be able to defend ourselves, and live with China as harmoniously
as we can because China is our neighbor.
great assistance.
In the meantime, let us look into the hearts and minds of the Chinese as we engage them in dialogue.
To them, face is of utmost importance — as the people, so the leaders. :e can either shame them, which will anger them — they will respond with violence and we will be beaten black and blue — but they will be scorned by the world. 2r we will make face for them, focus on their virtues, their magnanimity and wisdom as nurtured for several thousand years.
t the same time, let us look at the Mungle — at the small, weak animals — how they defend themselves, the skunk that is left alone because of the powerful stink it can throw at any interloper, or the porcupine — its body covered with sharp quills.
rmy morale, says *eneral Deveraturda, is high, particularly now that the salaries of enlisted men have been increased. (nlistment has attracted so many, so many qualified applicants clog the selection process. Manpower is not a problem but moderni ation must be faster. The need for many patrol boats, for instance, is so obvious. s a maritime nation, we should have developed long ago a maritime industry whereby we will be able to build our own navy, and not depend on the old hand-me-downs from the nited States. :e have the technology to do this — the boiti es have built those fast ferries at their shipyard in Cebu. They had to stop their operation because of the competition from the airlines, but there is still a need for us to have these fast patrol craft that they can make — if the government supports them first.
side from these patrol craft, *eneral Deveraturda says we need to have a formidable missile system as well as the essential and important detection capability. s an attack pilot and flight instructor, he understands this need very well. nfortunately, he has but a few weeks more at this crucial post. e retires ne t month.