20 NOVEMBER 2018

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COMMENTARY 4 Tuesday, 20 November 2018 Daily Tribune Daily Tribune WITHOUT FEAR • WITHOUT FAVOR Savor golden age “Rody has a good grasp of the Asian decorum which to the Chinese is expressed in the principle of Guanxi. Ninez Cacho-Olivares Crispin G. Martinez Chito Lozada Dinah Ventura Aldrin Cardona John Henry Dodson Jun Vallecera Jaimes R. C. Sumbilon Larry Payawal Komfie Manalo The visit of President Xi Jinping would be an opportunity to assess the benefits from the past two years when the government took the radical shift from hostile relations under yellow President Noynoy Aquino to deep friendship between the Philippines and China under President Rody Duterte. China declared that its relations with the Philippines have reached a golden age, an era that would be highlighted by Xi’s visit. The relations between both neighbors soured mainly as a result of the obstinate refusal of Noynoy to subject the maritime conflict to bilateral negotiations and instead followed the American game plan of a multilateral arbitration that China had rejected. Rody has a good grasp of the Asian decorum which to the Chinese is expressed in the principle of Guanxi or a relationship bonded by mutual trust and respect. The Western-influenced path that Noynoy took of forcing nations to submit to a higher power was never applicable to China, much more in forcing the Chinese to submit to a decision which it had no part in. Rody changed all that by the simple act of observing mutual respect. Xi described Rody’s friendly engagement with China as “a rainbow after the rain.” “In just a little more than two years, China has become the Philippines’ largest trading partner, largest export market and largest source of imports and the second largest source of tourists,” Xi said. The golden age of Philippine-China ties created a third growth driver for the economy that is tourism after the remittances from overseas Filipino workers and the business process outsourcing industry. Chinese tourists to the Philippines in the first three quarters of 2018 have exceeded the full-year total in 2017, reaching over 972,000. The numbers were far lower before at 490,000 in 2015 and 675,000 in 2016. Trade volume between China and the Philippines in 2017 topped $50 billion compared to $17.6 billion in 2015, which was the last full year of Noynoy. Exports to China also grew by 10.5 percent to $19.2 billion in 2017. Rody reciprocated by saying that the relations between both countries are similar to a flower in full bloom. China and the Philippines have taken their partnership into a deeper level by contributing to regional stability in the campaign against narcotics, terrorism and cybercrimes. Duterte noted that China “Xi’s visit would be one of the crowning glories of Rody’s independent foreign policy. Patricia Ramos Board Chair Willie Fernandez Publisher and President Founding Chair Executive Editor Managing Editor Associate Editors Business Editor Central Desk Special Reports helped the Philippines deal with terrorists without asking for any favor, adding China gave help and support wholeheartedly with no strings attached apparently in a jab against the United States and the European Union that require recipients of their aid to submit to Western standards. Also, in a reversal of roles in the global economy, China is now encouraging the US to open up as US President Donald Trump adopts increasingly restrictive protectionist policies. China had advised the US to be guided by “market forces and business rules” saying that no winner will emerge from a trade war that threatens to erupt between the Beijing and Washington. In contrast, Rody said that China is opening its economy to as much export products that the country can muster. Rody, who professed to not know demand from supply in the field of economics, had the prescience in seeing the country as being better off with China than the US when he took over the reins of government at a time when Noynoy’s master Barack Obama was still in power. Thus far, Rody’s global instinct on what would benefit Filipinos most remains impeccable. Xi’s visit would be one of the crowning glories of Rody’s independent foreign policy that stresses friendship to all nations and not just its colonial masters. “For Leni to say that only the rich get justice is yet another effort of her and her yellows to identify themselves as being one with the poor masses. “If justice grinds slowly in her cases, it is because of her delaying tactics. Faking a bleeding heart for the poor The nation has moved on, but not the yellows and the anti-Marcos groups that use every opportunity to make anything and everything Marcos an issue, which is probably why they refuse to move on even as the nation has moved on. Leni Robredo has been using the Imelda Marcos bail issue to gain more publicity for her. She has been at it since the court granted Marcos her temporary liberty after having been convicted by the same court. Robredo, who is a lawyer, should know better than to claim that the granting of bail to Imelda, who was pronounced guilty by the court on several counts of graft, only boosted the public perception that only the rich and powerful get justice. FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares Inhibition is a funny word. While etymologically sharing the same basic DNA, the word has more than two definitions used in totally different contexts. Thus, its two meanings are hardly applied in the same sentence. At least not until Liberal Party (LP) Sen. Leila de Lima, the former Secretary of Justice under the administration of Benigno Aquino III, stepped into the glaring limelight and there soaked up all the attention she enjoyed in a very bizarre sense. Never mind that, through her series of legal inhibitions sought in her criminal cases and what might be considered as a lack of personal inhibition in another case, focus on her has eventually deteriorated to denigration, derision and disgrace. Her life choices have been unusual and controversial to say the least, but then to each his or her own. There is no accounting for taste nor the absence of inhibitions in her private life — until those impact negatively on the public welfare and our own lives are threatened, as it had been when a deadly drug menace reigned under the Aquino administration. Then, the question of inhibitions in the case of Aquino’s former Justice secretary enters the public debate and becomes relevant. The 2016 mandate and the electorate’s simultaneous rejection of De Lima’s party standard bearer, as well as the continuing affirmation of the Duterte government’s agenda evidenced by approval and satisfaction ratings, attest to that. Let us tackle inhibition BYSTANDER Dean de la Paz That is hardly fair, considering the fact that under the law, no matter what crime the person accused is suspected of having committed, major or minor, bail is allowed to be granted, depending on the court’s discretion. Graft is a bailable offense. Even in plunder cases, bail can be availed of if the evidence is weak. Leni should know that even an accused convicted in lower courts is deemed innocent until final judgment from the highest court in the land. Rich or poor, every accused can seek bail. As a matter of fact, courts, even before trial begins, inform the accused of his bail when the crime is a bailable offense. Bail is not a matter of only the rich availing of it. Sure, they have the money and can easily post bail, while the poor can’t, mainly because the poor have no money for them to post bail. But the law applies to both the rich and the poor and the economic disparity between the rich and the poor is not due to only the rich getting justice as Leni puts it. B u t what Leni should work for, if she is truly sincere in ensuring that the accused who are poor are given justice, then she should organize groups that can get the judges to ensure when the poor, who are incidentally given free legal service, are sentenced, outside of the usual serious crimes as murder, for the courts to suspend sentence. This way, they are spared of both paying bail, which they can hardly afford and immediately obtain freedom under probation, if that is what the judge will grant the accused. The reason many of the poor accused suffer in jail for years on end is that despite bail that is on offer by the court, being poor, they can’t afford a bail of even P5,000, much more P10,000. But for Leni to say that only the rich get justice is yet another effort of her and her yellows to identify themselves as being one with the De Lima’s inhibitions where it is defined as an imposition of a restraint upon prospective behavior in judicial processes. This is especially relevant where De Lima is accused of several counts involving illegal drugs, the centerpiece advocacy of the current administration for which it was not only elected into office, but was the principal charge vested by the sovereign electorate on the administration. Where society has been so brutally victimized by a deadly drug menace that spills over from being a mere health problem to a deadly catalyst for violent, heinous and gruesome crimes inflicted on innocent families, the charge vested upon Rodrigo Duterte cannot be underemphasized. More so when under Aquino perhaps the largest drug laboratory was brazenly built in his personal political bailiwick under the noses of the police who report to a Cabinet secretary Aquino would eventually choose as his successor. While drug manufacturing and production were allowed by Aquino’s bureaucracy to operate by ineptitude and indifference, marketing and distribution were different stories altogether. We now know that illegal drugs under Aquino were being traded from inside the national penitentiary, a community of criminals technically under the Justice department, also then controlled by a LP factotum Aquino hand-picked as a senatorial candidate. A virtual and powerful triad poor masses. This problem of city jails and even national penitentiaries being congested with an overload of prisoners, mainly due to their inability to afford bail, has been going on for decades — including during the yellow reign’s time in power and position. Leni was already “Robredo and her allies have not denounced the rich yellow crooks who have gotten away with their crimes. a congresswoman and her husband the late Jesse Robredo was the Interior secretary. If her heart really bleeds for the poor who continue to rot in jail for many years and mainly due to their inability to raise bail money, why then did she not come up with a legislative measure to get judges to do away with having the poor cough up bail money, as well as coming up with a measure that calls for judges to suspend sentence, despite the conviction — at least on the accused’s first offense? Why didn’t she push her husband, then, to seek reforms for the poor to be spared of bail and prison through a suspended sentence? Why did she not and still does not, organize a group that would accept donations to provide the poor among the accused and convicted in jail of bail money, if Leni’s show of a bleeding heart for the poor is real? It isn’t real, of course as she never bothered about this when her husband was in position and even she, as a member of Congress, had every opportunity to introduce reforms in the justice system? In all probability, it is because they didn’t really care then, as their yellow president didn’t care either, despite the fact that he was getting his political foes framed and charged, arrested and detained, without bail, while his yellow allies were protected from being charged for plunder without bail. Did anybody hear these yellows and yes, Leni, fighting for their foes’ right to bail? Heck, no. They reveled in the hope that their political foes would never be granted bail and rot in jail, so they won’t be a political threat to the yellows’ plan for perpetual power. To this day, officials in the yellow regime, headed by its president, have gotten away with their crimes and Robredo and her allies have not denounced the rich yellow crooks who have gotten away with their crimes committed against the Filipino people. No wonder Leni and her yellows’ credibility is shot. comprised of Aquino plus his two chosen Cabinet secretaries should have rid us of the drug menace. Instead, the drug menace escalated. Because of the triad’s failure to control the illegal drug trade epidemic where millions were channeled from the national penitentiary to campaign coffers, it behooves us to seek a quick closure to De Lima’s cases. Likewise, we would normally “Illegal drugs under Aquino were being traded from inside the national penitentiary, a community of criminals technically under the Justice department. assume that De Lima herself, accused as she is of violating Section 5 of the Dangerous Drugs Act, if she were innocent, would similarly want a swift settlement. The venue to vet witnesses and assess their credibility is the courtroom, not the media. Unfortunately, De Lima has been constantly prosecuting her case in extrajudicial fora, including seeking the inhibition of either judges or witnesses even before trials begin — an aberrant preemptive albeit effective dilatory ploy given three counts were slapped against her, each non-bailable. Fortunately, despite her labeling her case a “sham,” the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutionality of her arrest. If justice grinds slowly in her cases, it is because of her delaying tactics which run contrary to the desire of both the prosecution and the public, which seek justice meted out at the soonest possible time. Published daily by the Daily Tribune Publishing Co., with offices at 3450 Concept Bldg., Florida Street, Makati City • Editorial: (02) 831-0496 • Administration: dailytribune@tribune.net.ph, (02) 833-7085 / (02) 551-5148. To advertise and subscribe: ads@tribune.net.ph, dailytribune@tribune.net.ph, (02) 833-7085 / (02) 551-5148. To submit an opinion article, email opinion@tribune.net.ph. To submit a letter to the editor, email: letters@tribune.net.ph • News: news@tribune.net.ph • Metro: metro@tribune.net.ph • Lifestyle: lifestyle@tribune.net.ph • Business: biz@tribune.net.ph • Sports: sports@tribune.net.ph • PR: pr@tribune.net.ph.
Tuesday, 20 November 2018 Daily Tribune COMMENTARY 5 “Fostering friendship with China is a wise choice. “If Robredo sincerely wants to help promote our national interest, she should just shut up on matters of foreign policy. “President Fidel Ramos was criticized for his expensive solutions to the massive power outage problem he inherited from Mrs. Aquino. Thoughts on China and President Xi Jinping’s visit the reason why I was invited In October 2016, when I was to form part of the delegation still a member of the House of during his trip to China in Representatives, I joined President 2016 and part of the reason Rodrigo Duterte on his state visit why I was personally asked to to China as part of his official become his spokesman. delegation. For me, the purpose However, let me clarify that of the trip was clear: President in pursuing an independent Duterte wanted to pursue an foreign policy and befriending independent foreign policy and he states other than our wanted to foster closer ties with traditional allies, we maintain China. I think it is very clear from BRIEFING ROOM our sovereignty. Choosing our the President’s pronouncements Harry Roque friends is an exercise of that that he wants to be closest to China among all sovereignty. the countries with which we have diplomatic While it may make certain sectors ties. He has repeatedly expressed his admiration uncomfortable to acknowledge it, fostering for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is friendship with China is a wise choice. We scheduled to visit the Philippines starting today. cannot ignore that China today is an economic Even before I became his spokesman and giant, arguably the world’s most dominant even now that I no longer speak for him, I economy. There are clear economic benefits to support the President’s position in pursuing an positive ties between our states. To illustrate: independent foreign policy. I believe this was we received over $25 billion worth of foreign Vice President Leni Robredo tried to get cute again, but fell flat on her face instead. In a radio interview, Robredo said the Duterte administration should stand firm behind the Philippines’ claim in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) because the country’s sovereignty is at stake. Robredo made the comment in reaction to Duterte’s statement during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Singapore that China is “already in possession” of the disputed sea. She parroted the yellow line that the Philippines should be more assertive in its stance in the WPS territorial dispute by invoking the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration against China’s nine-dash line claim. Like a programmed automaton, Robredo disgorged the clichéd and equally malicious charge that the administration has given up on our claims to the WPS territories, saying this would deprive a lot of our citizens their means of livelihood. Worse, she lamented the country would lose the opportunity to benefit from the rich resources in the area, which may include vast oil and mineral deposits. Either Robredo was not paying attention to State affairs or just too preoccupied with her own because, had she bothered to get a full briefing on the ASEAN Summit, she would not be blabbering idiotic comments on a delicate diplomatic situation with immense implications. If she carefully read the reports and not just the headlines, she would have realized that the real import of Duterte’s statement is simple and wise: nobody should do anything that could ignite war in WPS. Here’s the report on Duterte’s ASEAN statement: “He reiterated that China is effectively in control of some of the features in the strategic waterway as he warned of a potential ‘bad miscalculation’ as a result of ‘friction’ between China and other nations with interests in the South China Sea.” It’s been 80 years since the Filipinos headed their own government under the Commonwealth of the Philippines. Through those decades, corruption and abuse of privileges were endemic in many high places in government. Commonwealth President Manuel Luis Quezon spent public funds to favor his political allies. He hosted lavish parties either at Malacañang, or at the plush Manila Hotel, or on board the presidential yacht. For the record, Quezon City was created by the national legislature during Quezon’s incumbency as president. Quezon himself signed the law creating the city named in his honor. The last time something like that happened was about four years ago when the University of the Philippines College of Business Administration was renamed the Cesar E. A. Virata School of Business. Virata, who is still alive today, was both Prime Minister and Finance Minister of President Ferdinand Marcos. A clause in an existing law allows the renaming. President Elpidio Quirino’s administration was haunted by charges of corruption, including the acquisition of a costly P5,000 four-poster bed and a golden chamber pot. Quirino’s critics estimated kickbacks in government contracts at 10 percent. Diosdado Macapagal, the fifth president of the Republic, had his share of accusations. His term was stalked by the controversy created by the infamous Harry Stonehill, an American Corruption in past administrations businessman who dominated the news stories of that period. Stonehill controlled many industries in the Philippines. When it was suspected that Stonehill had many highranking government officials in his private payroll, Macapagal ordered his Justice secretary to investigate Stonehill. In 1963, after the investigation threatened to link Macapagal to the Stonehill payroll, Macapagal ordered the deportation of Stonehill. Macapagal’s Justice secretary resigned in protest and joined the opposition Nacionalista Party. The administration of President Ferdinand Marcos was mired with charges of graft and corruption. Those accusations are embodied in documentation made public after Marcos voluntarily relinquished power in February 1986. Marcos’ demise in 1989 pre-empted any possible criminal prosecution against him. Cases resolved against Marcos were pursued ex parte or without his participation. His widow, incumbent Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Romualdez Marcos, was recently convicted of graft by the Sandiganbayan. Her lawyers intend to appeal her conviction. President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino’s administration was likewise stalked by charges of corruption. The news media back then reported widespread anomalies which they attributed to Aquino’s relatives. They also coined the term Kamag-anak Inc. to highlight the extent THE SCRUTINIZER Victor Avecilla investment pledges from China in 2016 alone, upon the Duterte administration’s efforts to normalize relations with China. Clearly, the strained ties between the Philippines and China in the recent years was a reason for Chinese investors to shy away from the Philippines. Admittedly, tensions between our two countries “I hope that this growing closeness will soon present us with an opportunity to bring up the WPS without China leaving the table. exist over portions of the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The Philippines filed a case hoping that a ruling would bring an end to the dispute. As a former professor of Public International Law, I was gratified by the findings of the Permanent Court of Arbitration because, to my mind, the law is very clear: there is absolutely no basis for the nine-dash line. Nonetheless, the heart of the problem is Cleaning up the yellow mess Duterte had warned: “One day a bad miscalculation could turn things – Murphy’s Law. If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong.” That is precisely the reason President Duterte backed moves for full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the WPS and the expeditious conclusion of an effective Code of Conduct. of the problem. Mrs. Aquino’s most glaring controversy was when she virtually exempted the Cojuangco family-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac from the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. For his part, President Fidel Ramos was criticized for his “The alleged corruption under the Marcos regime is nothing in comparison with the anomalies under Aquino III. expensive solutions to the massive power outage problem he inherited from Mrs. Aquino. His decision to get power barges and to commit payment for unconsumed electricity was decried because it made electricity very expensive in the country. Many retired military officers were given key posts in the Ramos government. Ramos, after all, was a soldier before he joined the civilian government under Mrs. Aquino. Ironically, the bulk of Fort Bonifacio, a military reservation which Marcos did not touch, was sold off during Ramos’ term. Plunder charges were lodged against President Joseph Estrada during his time. He is the first Philippine president to be tried by the Senate as an impeachment court. The Estrada camp asserts that there was no deficit spending during the Estrada administration. President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s term was rocked by controversies. She was installed president by what appears to be the manipulation of then Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. The ZTE that there is no way to enforce the ruling without China’s cooperation. Confrontation has never worked out in our favor, which leaves us with limited practical options. I cannot say what the best option is — not in the long run. But I do know for certain that we gain nothing from alienating China. We need China at the negotiating table if we are going to work out a resolution on the disputed waters that China will actually abide by. In the meantime, with President Xi Jinping’s historic visit to the Philippines, I hope that the warmer ties that the President has fostered with China will continue to bear fruit for our economic growth. After all, the genuine change we all hope for is to uplift the lives of every Filipino. I hope that this growing closeness will soon present us with an opportunity to bring up the WPS without China leaving the table. Refuting criticisms that Duterte’s love for China policy is putting the Philippines in greater risk because of its implications on freedom of navigation in the WPS, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. tweeted: “What about this: DU’s love China Policy prompted US to commit its full panoply of power to the Indo-Pacific — stretching from Persian Gulf to waters lapping the shores of San Diego; something US held back from saying because its natural economic and trading partner is China.” The US Navy’s Indo-Pacific Fleet is reportedly considering a plan to “carry out a highly focused and concentrated set of exercises involving US warships, combat aircraft and troops” across the South China Sea and Taiwan Straits, a move seen to preserve intact the freedom of navigation in the disputed waters. By the way, Robredo should be reminded that President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s inept handling of the Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012 led to the rising tension in the WPS. President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino’s inept handling of the Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012 led to the rising tension in the WPS. “Scarborough Shoal is widely seen as the most palpable erosion of stability in the South China Sea since 2012,” said the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), which is under the Center for Strategic International Studies. “The Philippines’ decision to deploy a warship rather than its coast guard to seize the Chinese fishermen likely helped trigger the standoff,” AMTI said. It was also the consensus of experts that the Aquino administration’s illadvised decision to withdraw first from the shoal gave China the upper hand. To save face, the previous administration ran to the arbitration tribunal. It is now President Duterte who is cleaning up the mess the yellow administration created and succeeding at it. Robredo’s comments woefully exhibit her utter ignorance and shallow understanding of foreign relations and the intricacies of diplomacy. Her own words vindicate President Duterte’s aversion for Robredo to succeed him because she could jeopardize the country’s national interest and endanger our national security with her naïve confrontational stance that history has proven would not work unless backed by sufficient force. If Robredo sincerely wants to help promote our national interest, she should just shut up on matters of foreign policy. It would do us a lot good. telecommunications anomaly plagued her term as well. In the “Hello Garci” scandal, it was learned that Arroyo tried to influence an election commissioner to protect her votes in the 2004 presidential polls. Arroyo had to make a public apology on television for that scandal. When Arroyo was charged and tried for plunder, she wore a neck brace to support her request to seek needed medical treatment abroad. Her request was denied. After the cases against her were dismissed, her neck brace was gone. She remained strong enough to seize the speakership of the House of Representatives from Pantaleon Alvarez earlier this year. President Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party takes the cake. His administration bought defective trains for the metropolis, acquired defective helicopters for the Armed Forces and allowed 44 Filipino police operatives to be massacred in Mamasapano in Maguindanao. Aquino’s underlings likewise embezzled more than P186 billion of the Malampaya gas fund and misused the pork barrel fund. Indeed, the alleged corruption under the Marcos regime is nothing in comparison with the anomalies under Aquino III. President Rodrigo Duterte, who is nearing his midterm in office, has not been associated with any corruption. His management style may be authoritarian, but he does not tolerate corruption. That explains why Duterte is very upset about the rampant anomalies in the Bureau of Customs, so much so that he has asked the military to help clean up the mess there.
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