I found it rather frustrating to read the report about the tandem of Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go and President Rodrigo Duterte leading in the Pulse Asia survey on presidential and vice presidential bets in the 2022 elections. I thought that, like in the US, the pendulum of public opinion has finally swung back towards favoring a rule that is decent, patriotic and humane. A Go-Duterte win would mean public opinion here has still to escape the straitjacket that is “Duterterismo”
I am sure a Bong Go-Duterte tandem will get the support of China. Consider the big role China had in having Duterte elected. That strategy was successful in terms of international relations because China’s influence on Philippine affairs got immense under the Duterte administration. It is now on the verge of achieving its plan to own the entire South China Sea.
China would want to continue to influence the country’s foreign policy. It can only do that if another pro-China president would be elected. Bong Go would be it considering his lineage and his puppetry to Duterte. And we already know how loyal Duterte is to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Is the high rating in surveys a bad signal for those hoping for a return to decency and true love of country by Filipinos? But populism, which is what those surveys convey, can be overcome by unity and a painstaking raising of people’s consciousness. And I should say there is still time from now until the next election.
Duterte won because the forces of liberal democracy were split in the last elections. That is why I like the initiative of 1Sambayanan led by former Supreme Court chief justice Antonio Carpio. I would have wanted him to aspire for the presidency but it looks like he is not in the hunt.
I want the next president to be imbued with patriotism. We need to have s real patriot president for us to deter the expansionist effort of China. Under Duterte, our fishermen can no longer fish even in our own territories in the West Philippine Sea because the Chinese Coast Guard are the ones guarding parts of these. And our President is not showing the courage and creativity to defend our patrimony.
That is why I hope one of the issues that will be heavily discussed from now until next year’s campaign period will be China’s expansionist goals and the defense of our patrimony. Which brings me back to a possible Bong Go candidacy next year. We must find ways to end China’s influence peddling using our elected leaders.
It is important to further raise people’s awareness about the need to defend our patrimony. By “our” that should include Filipinos with Chinese lineage or pure Chinese people who are already residing in the country. This, after all, is the Philippines. I would like to remind every one of the blood spilt by our ancestors to defend our patrimony. Our ancestors should not have died in vain.
And while I have long fought US imperialism, I would consider it the lesser of two evils. Compared with China, the US is not intending to directly grab our territories. If the US would use its Central Intelligence Agency ot CIA to deter China’s inroads into Philippine politics, I won’t have any complaints.