In our choice of President come 2016...

We must not think of ourselves only. Our choice of President will affect the futures of our other neighbors in Asia. Why?

A President who clings to China will do policies different or contrary to the expectations of other nations, including the United States and Japan. A President who fights China will probably be dragging everyone to a conflict which will be regrettable in the end.

This Spratlys island is a balancing act, something which a populist president will never ever understand.

How about the Bangsamoro Question? The Bangsamoro Basic Law is sure to be passed sometime next week. Implementing such a law requires a toughie of a leader at the same time, someone who knows how to tame those among the propertied classes who feels threatened by the BBL.

It may be popular to talk tough on China but doing so may affect another side of the bilateral relationship with them. It may likewise be unpopular not to engage them but doing so may affect other ties with other Asian countries as well.

We don't need a Populist president come 2016. What we need is a strategic thinker of a President, someone who knows how to detach himself from the throng and sees things at a distance.

This is not the time to consider state matters as a trifle. Our economy and our future are inevitably tied with the regional economy and it is not enough anymore to treat things in isolation. With this ASEAN integration, our hiccup at one side of the region affects the other side of the equation.

We must not be self-absorbed or be selfish to think that our decision come 2016 is ours and ours alone. The traditional borders that separate states from each other are slowly crumbling and state actions cannot be treated as impacting in one place only.

If we elect a popular candidate yet unprepared, we are doing the country, the future generations of Filipinos and even our Asian neighbours a great disservice. 

Let us stop thinking of Malacanan as just an entertainment hub. I know it's hard not to considering that it has acted as such laughable manner since the very start of this Republic.

These times are different. We may regret our actions come next year when we trade state matters over emotions or over populism or over elitist propaganda against a potential perfect candidate.

Or we might be electing someone whose allegiance in the first place is placed elsewhere. Such is the danger and the importance of 2016 that we start taking these elections very seriously.

Or, leave state matters to a Council instead of the present form of government.

Presidential talk and Why We should not treat the 2016 Presidential election as a trifling thing

One idiot congratulating another idiot

I am totally disappointed and in fact, enraged on how this discussion about the next president is turning out. Frankly, most of us are choosing our candidates based on perceived popularity and party affiliation, not on skills or performance or even intelligence.

President Aquino and his allies are choosing who to support based on one faulty assumption--that person should toe the "Tuwid na Daan" line as if it is the state ideology. This tuwid na daan is a propaganda line, nothing more. It says nothing about how do we deal with external and internal threats to our survival as a nation.

Grace Poe's name is cropping up because she is right now the star of the show. Political parties, even the United Nationalist Alliance are jacking up, trying to get her into their stable. Idiots.

No one among them even asked her about her position or stand in issues, her management approach or even the things that she'll be bringing into the table once elected as either president or vice president. Since she's figuring quite well in the ratings department, we might as well elect her inspite of her inexperience or her total ignorance on governance.

Her surname carries weight, but aside from that, what other things will she offer for us? How will she engage China and the United States? What will she do with terrorist groups? How about gut issues? What is her stand on privatization, agrarian reform, women's rights, gay rights, abortion, FOI, and peace and order?

Will she declare martial law when the times call for it? Will she decide to push the button for the execution of a known criminal when the times warrant it? What role will her husband play in government?

Davao City mayor Duterte's name is also showing up in surveys purposely being pushed by Lakas NUCD men. Reason why? The basis is a survey which shows that majority of Filipinos will vote for the person perceived to exercise strong political will. Everyone knows Duterte's name is legendary when it comes to this department, but no one actually thought that Duterte's methods border on the extreme and you can't do that when you're president. The mayor's hordes of supporters will just be disappointed once Duterte succeeds in the election because his tough guy talk will amount to absolutely nothing once he realises how things work in Malacanan.

Can Duterte stand toe-to-toe with the Big Boys here in Luzon and the Visayas? Will he be tough with smugglers? How about China? His supporters expect him to issue incendiary statements against this Global superpower and will he then, do it just to play with them?

Two gentlemen: Mar Roxas and Vice president Jejomar Binay are likewise asking us to consider one of them as our President come 2010. Even the son of a dead strongman Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr is joining the fray, positioning himself as a viable candidate, and so do Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Chiz Escudero and Antonio Trillianes IV.

Think, think, my fellow Filipinos---who among them can stand toe-to-toe with other leaders in the Asian region? Who among them will have the guts to do the necessary things and stand by decisions and laws which are not exactly popular but laws which we sorely need for our survival as a nation?

Just assume that all of them are intelligent, but who among them has the experience, the strong political will and the character of a good president? What we have now are people who think they can do the job but if we analyse them one by one, we'll arrive at a very sore conclusion---as what Christopher de Leon said in that iconic Lino Brocka movie--Tinimbang ka Ngunit Kulang?

FRankly, our presidential elections in 2016 is VERY CRITICAL and VERY important because it will affect the balance of power in Asia six years down the line.

2016 is a very important watershed in Philippine history for three things: first, the next six years will surely bring tremendous economic growth in our country but without an effective and clean bureaucracy, such growth will only benefit a few and not a majority of our people. Second, the Philippines is at the very centre of a potential serious regional conflict that may involve two of the world's superpowers: China and the United States. This early, the Pentagon itself has said that it intends to assist the Philippines in developing a naval base 22 kilometres away from the Spratlys Group of Islands, the potential conflict area. Japan has started its joint naval exercises with the Philippines and other allies in the SouthEast Asian region have intimated their collective desire to assist the Philippines in its potential engagement with China.

This Spratlys issue not just affects the sovereignty of our country but likewise is becoming a potential threat to all other countries in the region.The US has already declared that the area is a very important strategic trade route used by countries around the world. IN building that humongous facility in one of the islands of the Spratlys, China is exploiting the weakness of the Philippines and other claimant countries for its own military advantage.

The potential of a shooting war looms bigger and larger today than say five years ago. Or, even if this does not lead to an armed conflict, such Chinese moves are now being interpreted in a very bad light by several countries. Fact is, many Asian countries are worried that China's moves are wrong and can actually drag the entire region into a very serious naval conflict.

The Philippines is very important in the resolution or because if we elect a populist president come 2016, we might find ourselves in a bigger and deeper mess than two years ago. If we elect someone with extremist tendencies or as soft as a baby in the person of Mar Roxas, things would either turn for us or against us.

If our next President swings towards the East, then, the direction of our economy will be different Same goes if we decide to go to the West.

Lastly, Mindanao is still a big threat to us. For one, international terror groups roam throughout this region in wanton abandon. Will the Bangsamoro Basic Law provide the necessary mechanisms effective in arresting the development or rise of militancy?

I am sure other rival countries would try and is probably in contact with rebel groups or their leaders in Mindanao just to assure themselves that this experiment fails in its face. It is in the interests of other groups to try and fan the flames of conflict in that side of our country so that our government remains unresponsive to other issues of the State.

If we fail to elect a suitable leader come 2016, and we decide to choose like how we did during these past few years, then, we all need to accept one inevitable consequence of our foolishness--our continued underdevelopment as a Nation.

China playing a very dangerous game

After two Philippine Coast Guard boats left the Panatag shoal due to an approaching typhoon, Chinese boats on the other hand, stayed on the disputed area and even raised the Chinese flag. Earlier on, Chinese officials praised the Philippines for "withdrawing" its boats, and even said that they would try to withdraw their own. Unfortunately, China refuses to honor its commitment and instead, hoist the Chinese red flag in one of the small islets of the shoal. 


That, my friend, is a brazen act worthy of international condemnation.


China is using double speak in its dangerous game with the Philippines. When countries in the region are trying to defuse the tension from becoming regional, China is taunting the Philippines and by doing so, dragging the entire region with it. 


Philippine president Benigno S. Aquino III in his speech before Chinese diplomats during the celebration of Philippine independence say specifically said that it is his duty to protect the sovereignty and patrimony of the entire archiepelago. Aquino stressed that his foremost concern is the protection of the country's patrimony, something which is being tested to the limits by Chinese government officials. 


What China is doing is publicly stating that it is stepping two steps back, while doing a forward step, something which signifies the lack of intention to honor bilateral and even, multilateral commitments. 


The Philippines should send a strong note verbale to the Chinese ambassador here. The Philippines must ask the Chinese ambassador and make her explain the dastardly actions of the Chinese side.