A diplomatic alliance
The well attended China National Day celebration held at the ballroom of Shangri-La at The Fort the other night had guests coming from business, the diplomatic circle, senators and government officials. Spy Bits arranged to have US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev and Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua gamely pose for a rare photo op during the event.
While President Rodrigo Duterte’s recent pronouncement about possible alliances with Russia and China has caused a lot of concern among certain sectors, the US State department issued a statement that as a sovereign nation, it is happy to see the Philippines pursue closer relations with the two countries. As State department spokesman Mark Toner put it, “It’s not a zero-sum game.”
Big businessmen of Chinese descent were more than happy to hear the President is open to stronger economic ties with China. Russia, of course, is also waiting in the wings especially since it has also taken a “pivot to Asia’ policy as far as trade and business is concerned, and is also looking for ways to strengthen its role in the Asia Pacific region.
The three major nations have continued to expand and promote their economic relations. Bilateral trade between China and the US, for instance, has hit over $260 billion in the first half of this year alone. On the other hand, relations between Russia and China are reaching “unprecedented levels” as Russian president Vladimir Putin described it during a televised address in May last year.
Last July, China took part in RIMPAC – the world’s biggest naval exercise held in Hawaii – and sent five ships, including a guided missile destroyer, which only goes to show that the three nations could conduct more joint maritime patrols in the near future.
A new business alliance
We have to hand it to Transportation Secretary Art Tugade for encouraging some of the country’s biggest business rivals – San Miguel’s Ramon Ang, Ayala Corp.’s Jaime Augusto Zobel and the Metro Pacific Group’s Manny Pangilinan – to collaborate in helping solve the problem of congestion by fast tracking big-ticket infrastructure projects.
These three major business entities have been mulling the possibility of engaging in a “new business alliance” for the Manila International Airport project whose major components include reclamation, construction and operation. Of course, it’s not really surprising to hear such talk of collaboration between MVP, RSA and JAZA considering the P70 billion telecoms acquisition deal that saw San Miguel Corp. selling its telco assets to PLDT and Globe under a 5050 arrangement.
We’re told that aside from the airport project, talks are also underway for partnership in other infrastructure projects such as rails and tollways – all of which will go a long way in helping decongest Metro Manila and spur development in the growth corridors in Luzon.
Mabuhay kayo – Ramon, Manny, Jaime and of course, Art!
Solid military alliance
Despite President Duterte’s controversial comments regarding the US, the military alliance between the two countries is solid. Over the weekend, the US Air Force conducted the third iteration of its air contingent in the Philippines at Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu “upon the invitation of the Philippine government.” The USAF deployed two C-130 Hercules aircraft as well as airmen from the 374th Air Wing at Yokota Air Base in Japan and other units from across the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) for bilateral training missions as well as technical exchanges.
PACAF airmen conducted the first rotation of an air contingent last April at Clark Air Base with the deployment of A-IOC Thunderbolts, HH60-G Pave hawks, while the second iteration happened in June with EZ-18G Growlers as well as US Navy and Marine personnel taking part in the trainings aimed at enhancing interoperability between American and Filipino troops.