Iloilo can’t fight China

By Alex P. Vidal

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.”— Ralph Waldo Emerson

EACH day, tension between the Philippines and China is escalating because of the never-ending naval skirmishes in the disputed South China Sea that prompted Southeast Asian allies and the United States to issue solid statements rallying behind the Filipinos.

But while the Philippine Government is openly expressing abhorrence toward China’s bullying, little animus can be felt among Ilonggos in Iloilo City and even the people in the neighboring cities and provinces.

Despite the standoff in the sea and fears of a widespread conflict, the strong ties between the Ilonggos and Filipino-Chinese traders have remained intact.

Filipino-Chinese businessmen almost control the Iloilo City economy in the same manner that the Jewish community controls the U.S. economy.

There is a symbiotic relationship between Filipinos and China in that part of the Hiligaynon-speaking region; Calle Real in downtown Iloilo City Proper has been dominated by generations of Tsinoy (slang for Filipino-Chinese) entrepreneurs that dates back centuries ago.

Prominent Tsinoy leaders in the country have strong roots in Iloilo City and most of them maintain businesses that employ Ilonggos or utilize local manpower and resources.

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Many parts and images of Iloilo are Chinese. Trade and industry, education, labor, sports, cultural activities, media, community and health services, are Chinese.

One will think Iloilo City is part of China when a sea of red and yellow buntings and lanterns mushroom during the Chinese New Year Celebrations. Local leaders warmly welcome and embrace Tsinoy big shots like long-lost family members.

In the event the Philippines will fight China (God forbid) beyond the diplomatic table and swapping of press statements and propaganda, Iloilo won’t and can’t go to the barracks.

Easier said than done but for most Ilonggos, self preservation or economic survival and long-established friendship and camaraderie are more important than geopolitics and waging a counterproductive war against the descendants of Kublai Khan and Emperor Zhao.

Aside from the regular horror our vessels have been experiencing, the Spratly Islands dispute is also an ongoing territorial dispute between Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam concerning “ownership” of the Spratly Islands, a group of islands and associated “maritime features” (reefs, banks, and cays etc.) located in the South China Sea.

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U.S. FOR RP IN PRC ROW. The United States has issued a statement “standing with our ally the Philippines following the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) provocative actions against lawful Philippine maritime operations in the South China Sea on March 5.”

The statement, issued by the US Department of State, thus declared: PRC ships employed dangerous maneuvers and water cannons against Philippine vessels carrying provisions to Filipino service members stationed at the BRP Sierra Madre, causing multiple collisions, damaging at least one Philippine vessel, injuring Filipino service members, and jeopardizing the safety of the Filipino crew.  We condemn the PRC’s repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and its disruption of supply lines to this longstanding outpost.

The PRC’s actions again show disregard for the safety and livelihoods of Filipinos and international law.  According to an international tribunal’s legally binding decision issued in July 2016, the PRC has no lawful maritime claims to the waters around Second Thomas Shoal, and Second Thomas Shoal is a low tide feature clearly within the Philippines exclusive economic zone.  As provided under the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, the 2016 arbitral decision is final and legally binding on the PRC and the Philippines, and the United States calls upon the PRC to abide by the ruling and desist from its dangerous and destabilizing conduct.

The United States reaffirms that Article IV of the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – including those of its Coast Guard – anywhere in the South China Sea.

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THE 24-CARAT GOLD. Pure gold is known, in the jewelry trade, as 24-carat gold. This is too soft a metal for ordinary wear and tear, so a harder metal, generally copper, is alloyed with gold. If the alloy has 18 parts of gold and 6 parts of another metal, we call it 18-carat gold; if it has 14 parts of gold and 10 of another metal, we call it 14-carat gold, and so on.

LET’S HIRE A CARPENTER. Instead of spending lots of money on a new desk for our office, let us invest in some salvaged wood and paying a carpenter to make us one to measure–it will have the added advantage of fitting the space exactly.

THE USE OF HAVING TWO EYES. If we look at our room with one eye only, we will find that it looks much flatter than it does with two eyes. With two eyes we can see that the chair is n front of the desk, that the wastebasket is round and that the closet looks deep. Our eyes are set from about two to two and a half inches from each other–measuring from center to center.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)