Over twenty years ago, the Philippine Senate under the leadership - TopicsExpress



          

Over twenty years ago, the Philippine Senate under the leadership of then senator Joseph E. Estrada terminated the Philippines/U.S. Military Bases Agreement and sent home the American forces based at the Subic Naval Base. But Estrada has very little understanding of the real state and course of events, his prime motive is to project himself as the champion of the masses, a prelude to his ambition of becoming the president of the republic. Today, it is very easy to sum up the results of the bases agreement termination, in the background of China’s occupation of the Scarborough Shoals and part of the Spratly’s. At the height of America’s presence in Subic, the American naval and air assets immediately reacts to any intrusion by foreign planes or ships within 300 kilometers radius of Subic or Clark Air Base, needless to say, encroachment by Chinese forces of any part of Philippine territory would not have been possible with the presence of the Americans in Subic. Plus, 20,000 Filipinos are recruited yearly by the U.S. Navy and Air Force, and the almost 100,000 are employed by the U.S. forces which are the second largest employer in the country after the Philippine government, there could have been a million more Filipinos in the U.S. today, sending home must needed foreign currency. Asian leaders now realize the advantage of having American forces around, no wonder the Japanese government helps defray the cost of maintaining American Bases. But Estrada will never understand these, the principle of balance of forces so as not to tempt a potential aggressor to use its more abundant power and resources to push other nations around. Estrada and Mayor Lim of Manila were formerly best of friends; they utilize the same method, using force and intimidation to exert their will. For decades, Philippine authorities have been arresting Chinese fishermen who encroach at Scarborough. But Chinese perception of the Philippines changed radically after the tragic end of the Luneta Grandstand hostage incident, wherein Chinese tourists from Hong Kong were killed by a dismissed policeman. The killing of the hostages was ignited by an order issued by Mayor Lim to Manila policemen to arrest the brother of the hostage taker in front of TV cameras. A typical response by Estrada and his friends who want to portray themselves as tough men. With this order, the ground commander was bypassed, another typical action. Chinese people called for retribution, they began looking for a chance to confront Filipinos in any arena. They did not wait for long, they took over the Scarborough. Like Estrada, Lim refused to accept responsibility for the tragic end of the hostage incident saying that he has done much for the country to be punished for his unauthorized action. The Chinese instigated the leftist to stage unending protest to oust American forces from the Philippines. Now, the stage is set for a return of American forces back to Subic to fill up the lack of balance of power that the Japanese are timidly shying away from unless the events pushes them to confront their traditional foe. Subic is now regularly visited by American navy ships, and plans for the conversion of the Subic International Airport into a theme park has been put on hold to make it readily available for U.S. warplanes. When he eventually
Posted on: Wed, 12 Jun 2013 22:11:40 +0000

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