ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR III
Familiar with the childhood games we play where we sometimes steal guava fruits from our neighbors yard? We sometimes took the liking of plucking the plump balimbin and tambis , from our neighbors walled backyard. Yet these are childhood games.
Today however, we are looking at a big and muscle-bound neighbor almost ready to take over and acquire our seas and land. He occasionally take pinch and a push to our fishermen and has the temerity to complain, even when he is a behemoth used and expert in the land grabbing or reclaiming.
Sadly, we are in this together, including the sympathizers and the former and presently tenured politicians who was so cozy with the bully. In a good note, the politicians who almost sold our sovereignty and was so vocal in singing praises to the bully are off the organizational charts and the remnants are in silent mode as the popularity is now, rightfully, in spiraling decline.
The invasion mode of China in the Philippines is a topic that has been discussed and debated by many experts, analysts, and media outlets. China has been accused of violating the Philippines’ sovereignty and territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea (also known as the South China Sea), where it has built artificial islands, militarized features, and deployed naval and coast guard vessels. China claims almost the entire sea as its own, based on its historical “nine-dash line” that was rejected by an international tribunal in 2016.
Concerns concerning China’s invasion strategy have been raised by a number of recent incidents, including:
On December 14, 2023, Chinese ships at Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal were spotted in “invasion” mode after upsetting a Philippine resupply mission in the same waters the previous weekend. Under various names, China and the Philippines both claim the disputed feature known as Ayungin.
Former AFP Chief of Staff Bautista declared that Chine would readily sieze the Philippines in the event that they go to war with the US.
Slowly, as President Bongbong Marcos observed, the Chinese inch closer to our shore, as if ready to devour us .
To me, they are the neighbors who would like to steal our fruits from our trees and annex our land for the resources they can squeeze from it. And that , whether we like it or not, is an inconvenient truth and a wake up call for all.
