2022 Presidential Elections

[Yatta]

Parlade’s call for revolutionary gov’t better left ignored, Palace says | Inquirer News

Instead of ignoring, he should have been arrested for incitement to sedition and treason. There are Filipinos who have already been killed for calling for less.

[Flipo]

Idagdag pang walang alam sa foreign policy si santa lenlen Madidisgrasya ang Pilipinas pag yang ina nyo ang nanalo

The consequences of electing China’s candidate
THE CORNER ORACLE - Andrew J. Masigan - The Philippine Star
March 16, 2022 | 12:00am

The Stratbase Institute recently organized a briefing with war expert and author, Elbridge Colby. Colby was the US Assistant Secretary of Defense responsible for defense strategies, armed forces development and analysis of war-related policies. Colby’s talk was a sobering wake-up call for us Filipinos.

There is no question about it – China will invade Taiwan to annex it back to the People’s Republic of China. It is not a question of if, but when, declared Colby. China’s Anti Secession Law, passed on March 14, 2005, holds the Chinese Communist Party duty-bound to reclaim Taiwan. In fact, Article 8 of the said statute mandates the Chinese government to use military force if “all peaceful means” have been exhausted. Colby’s educated guess is that the invasion could happen between 2027 and 2033.

The Philippines is the second natural target for China, says the war expert. This is cause for alarm for us but not a surprise given our geography. The northern tip of the Philippines is a mere 100 kilometers from the Taiwanese mainland. This makes the Philippines strategic for the annexation of Taiwan. China needs to control the Philippines, specifically Luzon, for military leverage over Taiwan’s southern point.

American military presence in the Philippines will foil the Chinese plan. This is why the Chinese government has been working to stage a Philippine pivot to China and away from the US.

The fiercely independent people of Taiwan are ready to wage a valiant resistance against the Chinese. Along with her allies, Taiwan is militarily prepared to fight toe-to-toe. Colby sees a bloody war that unfortunately will involve weapons of mass destruction. Luzon will be a battleground unless the Philippines acts now, with urgency, to insulate our borders. We need to make our posture clear. To have a flimsy, neutral or tentative posture works to China’s favor.

If Taiwan falls, the effect on the Philippines will be acute and direct, warns Colby. See, China plans to dominate Asia in the political, military and economic spheres – and to do that it needs to control the First Island Chain, composed of Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Whoever has military control over the First Island Chain is in the position to gain dominion over the entire Asian region.

With 50 percent of global GDP, Asia is the “Decisive Theater” of this century. It is not Europe. China aspires to be the world’s economic and military superpower. As it stands, the red republic already operates a larger naval armada than the US and Japan, combined. Its purpose is not to defend its boarders but to conquer others.

Geopolitical experts agree that for now, China’s goal is not to annex the Philippines but to install a government that bends to its will. Its objective is to have the Philippines disaffiliate from the United States. Doing so will give China free reign over our archipelago without resistance from the Philippine Armed Forces, America and our joint allies. Since 2016, China has begun its campaign to control the Philippines without even firing a single gunshot. It continues to do so through quid pro quo arrangement with politicians, by military intimidation and by a push-&-pull tactic of economic lures and threats of sanctions.

For as long as the Philippines has a pro-China president, China’s ambition to be the preeminent global superpower remains on track. For the Filipino, however, having a government subsumed by China carries grave consequences. What is at stake is our sovereign borders (which will be increasingly occupied by China), our democratic way of life and the risk of our islands being the battleground of war. We should not elect a president who exposes us to these risks.

We should never think, for one moment, that China would not use military means to take control of our territories. Given the Philippines’ importance to China’s grand ambitions, it will not hesitate to invade our lands if need be. It has already done so in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

So how must we prepare for the imminent invasion of Taiwan and ensure that the Philippines will neither be the battleground of war nor attacked by Chinese forces?

We must elect the presidential candidate who is not under Chinese influence. This is fundamental to all. Our next president must be present, decisive and able to operate under immense pressure. He/she must be credible as a pro-democratic head of state since alliances and defense treaties will have to be formed with like-minded nations.

Policy-wise, the next administration must prioritize the following: Intensify our cooperation with the United States, especially on the military front; Optimize our defense agreements with like-minded nations such as Australia, Japan, South Korea and India; Ensure the continuity of the Philippine Armed Forces’ modernization program with greater focus on naval, aerial and strategic defense assets; Formulate a new national security strategy based on the July 2016 Arbitral Ruling of the WPS dispute; Maintain a firm, consistent and uncompromising position of Philippine sovereign rights over the WPS; Establish a vigorous cyber defense posture; Build-up capacities in disease surveillance in anticipation of biological attacks.

Agility is important, hence, regular national risk assessments must be undertaken to calibrate Philippine policies.

Professor Victor Andres Manhit summarizes our situation succinctly. He said, “Due to the growing military power of China, the Philippines must utilize its expansive network to secure the freedom of the seas and to counter aggressive behavior from China’s maritime militia. More importantly, the defense agreements with the US must be revisited to ensure maximum (sic) inter-operability vis a vis new and emerging threats. Simultaneously, it should continue the AFP modernization program to strengthen its capability to defend the country’s territorial integrity and national sovereignty.”

The Philippines must protect itself from being a battleground of war or invaded. It all starts by electing the candidate who is not beholden to China.

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[TopEngine]

As I watched Presidential debates, no candidate is pro-China. We'll almost of them are pro-West, and one has a mind set of an independent foreign policy/bilateral talk to any nation.

All of them agreed to AFP modernization.

[ale828]

Iboboto mo ba si BongBong kung hindi siya Marcos? Kung hindi Marcos ang apelyido niya. Many are engrossed with the Marcos name, corruption and human rights violations aside, but the Junior is nowhere near the Senior.

Same reason pinoy voter voted for PNOY for being the son of a National Hero.
Do you think the Father would have been a better president than his son? I guess we will never know.

Name recall is part of any election. swerte ka if you have a famous name. Which is also why dynasties are prevalent in our political system.
Some people don't look at the current achievements of the present candidate. sasabihin lang nang iba, ay anak/pamankin ni ganito, ay ok yan.

[Flipo]

As I watched Presidential debates, no candidate is pro-China. We'll almost of them are pro-West, and one has a mind set of an independent foreign policy/bilateral talk to any nation.

All of them agreed to AFP modernization.

Marcos Jr. on West PH Sea: ‘Shallow, outdated, simply uninformed,’ say experts
MANILA, Philippines – Dictator’s son Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s assertion that he would seek an agreement with China to allow Filipinos to fish in the West Philippine Sea was, to experts dedicated to the issue, the latest display of the presidential candidate’s lack of knowledge on one of the most consequential foreign policy issues faced by the Philippines today.

Marcos’s latest comments on the issue made during the presidential debate hosted by Apollo Quiboloy-owned SMNI News on Tuesday, February 15, saw him vacillate between pushing for two-sided talks favored by China to engaging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and trying “every single way we can” to iron out the long-running dispute. Candidates in attendance had been asked what specific policies they would implement to guard the interests of fishermen in the West Philippine Sea, where Manila and Beijing have been locked in dispute for decades.

“Pag nakahanap tayo ng kasunduan sa People’s Republic of China ay siguro baka simulan na natin ang pag-uusap tungkol sa West Philippine Sea dahil kung nasabi natin ‘Atin yun,’ at tumanggap sila, eh umpisa na iyan. Diyan natin magsimula at dahan-dahanan natin itong problema na meron tayo sa Tsina,” Marcos said.


China, Marcos, and Robredo (2) | Inquirer Opinion
China, Marcos, and Robredo (2)
By: Joel Ruiz Butuyan - *inquirerdotnetPhilippine Daily Inquirer / 04:06 AM February 07, 2022
The next president of our country will be either Leni Robredo or Ferdinand Marcos Jr., from all indications. One of the most crucial issues that voters must carefully consider in deciding between the two, is their highly opposite positions on how to deal with our new invader, China.

China has used its military might to dismember a huge part of territory where the Philippines has sovereign rights. China has illegitimately annexed 500,000 square kilometers of maritime waters over which international law grants our country exclusive rights to fish, to exploit marine resources, and to explore gas, oil, and minerals.

Marcos Jr. has declared that he will sit down with China in one-on-one bilateral talks. He agrees to the condition that when we talk to China, we will not invoke/involve our following three aces: (1) our international arbitration victory; (2) our mutual defense treaty with the United States, and; (3) our natural allies among the other countries similarly affected by China’s greedy claim over the South China Sea.

In contrast, Robredo will use our aces and engage China in multilateral negotiations. Critics argue that if we don’t agree to bilateral talks with China, the only other option is to go to war. They’re gravely mistaken. Multilateral campaigns can take the form of economic, political, public relations, and a variety of other nonmilitary crusades. If China does not agree to multilateral negotiations, we can still go on multilateral campaigns without it, just as we did in the arbitration case. Going back to bilateral talks with a deceitful invader will not achieve anything as explained below.

Marcos Jr. should know that before we resorted to arbitration, we repeatedly engaged in bilateral talks with China for 20 long years. China played along and it even agreed to abide by “international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” But while its mouth was uttering “peaceful” diplomacy during bilateral talks, its hands and feet were engaged in unilateral, undiplomatic, and hostile actions: (1) it built multiple military installations in our reefs, atolls, and shoals; (2) it forcibly expelled our fishermen from the Scarborough shoals; (3) it engages in hostile actions against our military, and; (4) it has prevented our country from carrying out long-standing oil and gas development projects.

Our diplomats describe our invader’s two-faced behavior as follows: “China’s ‘salami-slicing’ strategy: that is, taking little steps over time, none of which individually is enough to provoke a crisis. Chinese military officials themselves have referred to this as its ‘cabbage’ strategy: peeling one layer off at a time. When these small steps are taken together, however, they reflect China’s efforts to slowly consolidate de facto control throughout the South China Sea.”


With bilateral talks proving futile, our country was forced to resort to arbitration, and which we won. Yet, Marcos Jr. wants us to go back to the same strategy of talking over siopao, siomai, and buchi, but which has proven disastrous to our country and beneficial only to our scheming lauriat host. Marcos Jr. virtually wants our country to go on bended knees, beg China to have mercy on our poor and weak nation, and agree to negotiate again under conditions that guarantee utter failure for our country.

Marcos Jr.’s weak stance does not remind us of the nationalistic foreign policy championed by his father during his strongman rule. Marcos Jr. instead reminds us of earlier periods in our history when our country was invaded by Spain, the United States, and Japan, and we had leaders who submissively collaborated with the invaders.

Marcos Jr. does not remind us of his father. Marcos the father wanted to expand our territory by asserting our claim over Sabah. In total contrast, Marcos the son’s submissiveness to China would lead to a huge reduction of our maritime territory and lend legitimacy to China’s annexation of our resource-rich waters.

Our countrymen who are hoping that Marcos Jr. would be his father’s son, are in for a heartbreaking disappointment. As shown by his servile stance toward China, Marcos Jr. is not his father’s son.

[TopEngine]

I watched the SMNI Senatorial debates (1&2), our foreign policy with the West has taken a huge chunk of time in that debate and it was a good enlightenment for the viewers. Some said that Multilateral may elude China to talk to us. Most of them want the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US to be abrogated because China has taken the Panatag Shoal but US didn't helped us. In fairness of BBM he may leverage of talking to China as we saw in the past that China have that keen to talk with him. The problem of Multilateral in particular to WPS, the superpowers would just use our motherland Philippines as battleground and we don't like that scenario. We should have a peaceful bilateral talks to every nation in a calculated-risk manner.

The previous article posted is pro-West I think.

[Yatta]

I watched the SMNI Senatorial debates (1&2), our foreign policy with the West has taken a huge chunk of time in that debate and it was a good enlightenment for the viewers. Some said that Multilateral may elude China to talk to us. Most of them want the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US to be abrogated because China has taken the Panatag Shoal but US didn't helped us. In fairness of BBM he may leverage of talking to China as we saw in the past that China have that keen to talk with him. The problem of Multilateral in particular to WPS, the superpowers would just use our motherland Philippines as battleground and we don't like that scenario. We should have a peaceful bilateral talks to every nation in a calculated-risk manner.

The previous article posted is pro-West I think.

And the problem with bilateral talks is China being the bigger power can simply bully the weaker nation (us). Look at what happened to Digong where he practically turned into a spokesman for the Chinese ambassador.

[Lew_Alcindor]

I watched the SMNI Senatorial debates (1&2), our foreign policy with the West has taken a huge chunk of time in that debate and it was a good enlightenment for the viewers. Some said that Multilateral may elude China to talk to us. Most of them want the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the US to be abrogated because China has taken the Panatag Shoal but US didn't helped us. In fairness of BBM he may leverage of talking to China as we saw in the past that China have that keen to talk with him. The problem of Multilateral in particular to WPS, the superpowers would just use our motherland Philippines as battleground and we don't like that scenario. We should have a peaceful bilateral talks to every nation in a calculated-risk manner.

The previous article posted is pro-West I think.

China preferring to talk to BBM does not mean BBM has leverage. Those are two different things.

In fact, it show that BBM is the weakest among the candidates because why would China talk to someone who has leverage over them?

[bloowolf]

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[Monseratto]

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