SENATE President Juan Ponce Enrile, a long-time defense minister, lamented on Thursday that repeated Chinese bullying over disputed territories that are well within the Philippines’ southwest border is “no longer funny.”
“It is not funny anymore. We laugh at it…but we are receiving the disrespect of other nations. We are no longer respected,” Enrile told reporters at the weekly Kapihan sa Senado media forum.
Enrile explained that while he “respects the opinion of China and the Chinese government, they have to understand that we also have a voice to raise whenever we feel that they are intruding in our domain.”
“We are not criticizing them, we are just saying that, ‘Well, in our opinion, you are intruding in our domain. If you are not, ‘“well, say so that you are not, that you have no aggressive intention against this country. But for heaven’s sake, don’t lecture us because we can equally lecture you even if you are a giant.”’
Bullying tactics, he added, is “normally the attitude of a powerful country against a weak county.”
“Now, if you don’t want to be treated as a doormat, what is the remedy? Answer that yourself. I will reduce it to an everyday life in your neighborhood. If you have a bully as a neighbor and you do not prepare against that bully, you will be a doormat of your neighbors.”
For local instance, he cited the raging rivalry between the Ayala Group’s Globe Telecom and the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT). “Even in business, why is Globe [Telecom] complaining? It’s complaining because PLDT is becoming a giant, and Globe is afraid to be a doormat of PLDT. That’s a fact of life. Now, to counterbalance that, you have to gain strength. In the case of Globe and PLDT, well, Globe goes to the referee, to the President, to ask for equalization, because they do not have enough clout to fight the giant.”
Enrile added it is the same thing in international relations. “We will go to our referee, which is our ally, the United States. But, unfortunately, when we go to our ally, he will say, that is not my problem, that is your problem.”
That is the tragedy of the Philippines, he said. “We are allied to the United States under a Mutual Defense Treaty. When we are demeaned, mistreated by other countries and we invoke our relationship with America, America says, ‘It’s your problem, you take care of it, we are not involved.’”
“And yet, we do not want to develop where we can, to at least tell the guy who is going to bully us: ‘You try to come near me and I will show you I can bite you like a flea,’” he added. “We cannot even act as a flea, because we do not have a sting.”
Enrile suggested that prayers could help. “Tayo ay magdadasal. God, please help us. Ano’ng magagawa natin? Siguro, dalawang destroyer lang ay susuko na tayo.”
“We’re talking about verbalism. Wala tayong magagawa if they will be intruding upon our domain. Kaya ano’ng gawin natin doon sa scolding na ginawa ng China sa Pilipinas? ’Di magalit ka rin. Pero ’pag sinugod ka, takbo ka. You were asking me to describe the situation. I reduced it to the most absurd situation.”
Enrile disclosed that Malacañang had invited some government officials to go with President Aquino to China, including himself.
“When you go there, they treat you to a banquet. They’ll give you all kinds of importance, with gun salutes, parades. But what is that? You’re just deluding yourselves.”
“Then, when you go to Taiwan, they will not only scold you but they will say: ‘Hey, don’t go there because, otherwise, I will cut diplomatic relations!’ But if we have the balance of forces, if we have enough capabilities, at least they know that we have the capability to inflict injury that in their quantification they cannot afford to suffer, then they will have to think twice about bullying you,” he added.
Enrile said the Philippines could not even rely on the United Nations, describing it as “just a debating club.”
“The [members of the] United Nations have their individual interests. Debating club lang iyon. The UN will apply only when the big guys agree to fight somebody, because it is their interest to protect themselves. If they have no interest in war, they will not go to war against anybody,” he said.
