Defeat concurrent threats
June 12, 2020As we struggle through this pandemic, the government grapples with our limited resources to respond. The ordinary Filipinos barely make ends meet as businesses struggle to reopen, while many are forced to bankruptcy. As we must focus on recovering from this crisis, China’s creeping aggression in our territories is clearly an invasive maneuver that our country must not tolerate.
Last year, a Chinese vessel rammed the Filipino fishing ship F/B Gem-Ver 1 and abandoned our fishermen to die in waters near the Reed Bank. The Chinese government downplayed this as a mere maritime incident. But this is just one of the so many “let go incidents” against our people in our territorial waters.
The administration’s foreign policy continues to welcome China, openly accepting and praising its pledges of support and photogenic gestures of friendship. This has emboldened more Chinese encroachments that should be pushed back with a defiant posture and firm conviction to stand by the rule of law, as expected of an independent democratic nation.
The encroachments of China while the world battles the existential threat of the pandemic is a devious exploitation of a strategic vulnerability that must be stopped before another incident sparks a confrontation that destabilizes the region’s security.
The economic invasion of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) in majority of our workplaces and even residential areas have become a human security threat suspected to have contributed to the local spread of the Wuhan virus when POGO workers returned from their Chinese New Year holidays in the mainland. Senate Investigations have revealed billions of lost government revenues because of unpaid taxes and links to illegal activities from illicit trade, prostitution, and acts of criminality.
As a united people, we can defeat these concurrent threats of the Wuhan virus and the continuing Chinese incursions into our sovereign territories. In both problems, we need strong alliances.
To fight the health and economic crisis of the pandemic the government needs the resources and skills of the private sector.
To protect our economic and environmental interests in the West Philippine Sea, we need to unite with a growing host of nations resisting Beijing’s bullying and strengthen our security alliance with the United States.
In commemorating our independence, let us salute our heroes who have given us the inheritance of a free and democratic nation. Let us salute the front liners who now risk their lives to save ours. Their dedication and brave spirit should inspire hope and perseverance to overcome the difficult times ahead, and together, rise towards rebuilding the nation towards resilient, prosperous, and sustainable future.
Orlando O. Oxales
Lead Convenor
CitizenWatch Philipiines