Manila should use diplomacy and must not expect rescue from Washington over the brewing tension with Beijing over territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
The Malacañang was earlier reported to be confident that Uncle Sam will come to aid the Philippines should the Spratly Islands issue escalate into an armed conflict, ABS CBN News said.
Reacting to Manila's confidence that the White House will come to the rescue, an attaché from the US Embassy in Manila said, "The US does not take sides in regional territorial disputes," the PDI reported.
The US was "troubled by incidents in the South China Sea in recent days that have raised tensions in the region," the Embassy said. Washington is opposed to using threat or force by any countries claiming ownership of the islands.
In retaliation against Beijing's bullying, Albay governor Joey Salceda urged his countrymen on Sunday to come together and boycott Chinese-made products, in another PDI report.
He said in a speech during the Independence Day celebration, "Let us boycott ‘Made in China’ products, buy Filipino. Let us hurt them where it counts. We also protect our children and communities from the pervasive and persistent risks of various types of contamination and poor quality of their products."
Author’s comment: There are many lessons to be learned here in relation to the observance of the 113th Independence Day on 12 June.
Filipinos must stand up to itself and not rely on Uncle Sam should it get into armed fight with China. The Philippines vetoed the removal of the US bases several years ago, so why the sudden expectation that he will come to help us against a force as big as China? Use diplomacy. Let's fight our own battle.
I deem Gov. Salceda's advocacy as childish. Did he say it because it was Independence Day—the right theme at the time? Boycotting Chinese products will hurt us more, sir. If Beijing boycotts us like what they did last year after the Manila tourist bus fiasco, the hurting Philippine tourism industry was further crippled by the loss of Chinese arrivals.
Details of this report here.
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