What do you do when a neighbor forces himself into your kitchen and starts taking your pots and pans because he fancies the things you possess as his own?

What do you do when a neighbor breaks your fence down because he wants to harvest the fruits from your mango trees without permission?

Wouldn’t you stop him and yell?  “Put my stuff back and get the hell out of my property!”

Is this not what is happening to us right now?  But what do we do about it?  How does our national leadership respond to such naked aggression and violation of our sovereignty?

Unfortunately, we are being kicked around by a giant whose appetite for territorial conquest is unquenchable and we scamper away like little ants in all different directions without a common knowledge and a sense of purpose.

Why do we appear irresolute and ambivalent?  Is it because we are scared?  Or is it because we feel helpless?  Or is it because we are simply overwhelmed by the problem?

I think it is for all these reasons and more.  And yet, in the midst of such a quandary, we have decided to keep going on with our own separate ways and separate lives.

It is unfortunate that our Muslim brothers and sisters are glued to their secessionist idea, our militant brothers and sisters are fixated on their leftist agenda, and our politicians are wrapped up with the demands of their little dog and pony shows to sway public opinion to their favor.
 
And yet, as if our disunity is not enough, our national leader gives out wishy-washy pronouncements here and there without a consistent and unflinching resolve.  

It’s like, one day “PNoy wants U.S. spy planes over West Philippine Sea,” and then, the next day “PNoy’s statement on spy plane is taken out of context”.

Well, la-di-da.  Do we really think we scared the pants off of China?  Do we really think that China will now change its policy towards the disputed territories?

Of course, not!  It already made up its mind to get what it wants, by hook or by crook!

We better decide on what we would like to do right now because China is not waiting for us.  In fact, China doesn’t give a tinker damn on what we say, nor take us seriously, however we adeptly spin a tale.

Here are my suggestions:

First, the national leadership must actively engage in this enormous issue by calling the people to unite.

I know it won’t be anything close to easy.  But the president must unite all of the disparate forces, not only for the sake of our sovereignty, but also, for our very survival.  For now, our unqualified political focus must be how to respond to China’s bullying and aggression.

Second, the national leadership must internationalize this issue.

Since we cannot outspend China, the president must immediately pursue a robust and an unbending national policy of multilateralism to support the principle of the “freedom of navigation and respect of international law.”

For us, this means proactively synergizing the interests of multiple countries working with us in concert on this issue.  Other than the United States and Australia, we must institutionalize the visiting forces agreements with other sovereign states, namely, ASEAN countries, Taiwan, Japan, India, and New Zealand.

Unequivocally, I am for regular multilateral military drills and practices in the West Philippine Sea and the deployment of U.S. spy planes too.  Just imagine this, the latter could have given us sufficient information to identify the culprit in the ramming of a Filipino boat and the deaths of its five crewmembers.

Third, the national leadership must promote and assist bullish localities in the development, planning, and implementation of selected maritime cities.  

By maritime development, I mean the re-rooting of our urban development to the origins of the city-state development that the classical Greeks talked about. In fact, the success of Greece, Italy, Hong Kong, or Singapore can be traced to the application of the city-state model of development.


Our country has no shortage of maritime planning corridors (i.e., in Moro Gulf, Davao Gulf, Lingayen Gulf, Panay Gulf, Albay Gulf, Leyte Gulf, etc.).  As an archipelago, this is our national strength, both human resource and natural resource.

Long-term wise, I believe we need the self-economic empowerment to better prepare ourselves to face our naval as well as development challenges.

Besides, I prefer that rather than exhausting the cultivation of our limited land resources, we must conserve it by making maritime trade and services as our chief economic activity.

As a starter, how about the national government promoting and supporting the plan of Butuan, Negros Oriental, Palawan, or Davao Oriental to put up its own international shipping dockyards and/or containerships?  

I believe our country can provide competitive rates and fees for servicing American, Indian, Australian, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, or Taiwanese commercial and military shipping repair, maintenance, and supply needs.

Maybe it’s just me but every time I look at the map of our islands with its safe harbors and winding coastlines, this is what I see---a Venice, a Monaco, a Macau, a Hong Kong, or a Singapore.