t was made
into two classic films, the first with Frank Sinatra in 1962 and the second with
Denzel Washington in 2004. “The Manchurian Candidate”, the 1959 best-selling
novel by Richard Condon, told the tale of a group of American soldiers captured
during
the Korean War who were taken to Manchuria, China where they were brainwashed by
Chinese officials. After they were released by their captors, the soldiers were
hailed as heroes in the US. One of them, Raymond Shaw, became the Manchurian
candidate, the sleeper assassin at the beck and call of the Chinese Communists.
Does China have a Manchurian candidate in the 2016 Philippine presidential
elections? This question is akin to asking: is the Pope Catholic?
With control over dozens of Philippine shoals and billions of barrels of oil
underneath them at stake, China will most definitely want its chosen candidate
to win the May 2016 Philippine presidential elections.
The smart money is betting in Chinese Yuan that Vice President Jejomar “Jojo”
Binay will be that candidate.
When the Aquino Government learned in April of 2014 that China was engaged in
massive land reclamation activities in the Mabini Reef and filed protests in the
United Nations, the new Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua paid
a courtesy call on Binay at the Vice President's Coconut Palace and then hosted
an intimate dinner at his Forbes Park residence in Makati for the Binay family
which included former Makati Mayor Elenita Binay, Sen. Nancy Binay, Makati Mayor
Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr., Rep. Abigail Binay and Binay’s longtime associate,
Employers Confederation of the Philippines president Edgardo G. Lacson.
Given his close personal friendship with Ambassador Zhao (seen in the photo
below), it was expected that Binay would downplay his support by China. So it
came as a surprise when Binay announced in an interview in a Visayan radio
station on April l2, 2015 that if he
was
elected president in 2016, he would back China’s call for “bilateral talks” to
resolve the territorial dispute between the two countries and that he would
engage in “joint ventures” with China.
WHY DID BINAY COME OUT NOW?
Why did Binay publicly announce his support for China’s position on “bilateral
talks”? Why was he not deterred by the results of a nationwide poll conducted by
Social Weather Station (SWS) from December 2013 through January 2014 which
showed that “an overwhelming majority of Filipinos (93 percent) back the
government’s efforts to defend the national territory” against China?
Was it motivated by his insecurity and concern that China may back another more
credible candidate because of his precipitous drop in the polls? Is courting
China's support the reason why none of the other Philippine senators - who may
be “presidentiables” - have criticized China’s invasion of Philippine
territories?
LINK
But just in case the press did not learn of Binay’s public position on China,
the Vice President’s media staff sent transcripts of his radio interview to all
the Manila media on April 14. Under the caption heading “China has capital, we
need money”, ABS-CBN News reported that “Vice President Jejomar Binay over the
weekend said he has no problem with the Philippines holding joint ventures with
the "moneyed" China in the disputed West Philippine Sea, in what could be a
glimpse of his China policy in case he gets elected as president in 2016.”
Binay’s announcement came as a surprise because he is still a member of the
Aquino cabinet as chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating
Council (HUDCC) and Aquino's adviser on overseas Filipino worker (OFW) affairs.
If he wanted to publicly express his differences with the Aquino government on
the dispute with China, the honorable move for Binay would have been for him to
resign from the Aquino cabinet. [But no one has ever accused Binay of taking
principled positions.]
As recently as November of 2014, when Pres. Aquino denied Binay’s request to use
his influence to stop the Philippine Senate from conducting a probe of
corruption in Makati under Binay, Pres. Aquino said that Binay was free to
resign from his posts in the Aquino cabinet. But Binay declared then that he
would not leave the Cabinet. "I have the highest respect for President Aquino
and I will continue to be a team player," he said.
BINAY AS A “TEAM PLAYER”
Binay has been openly skeptical of the Aquino administration’s filing of a claim
against China in the United Nations International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea
(ITLOS). Binay expressed the view there was no point in pursuing the UN venue
because China will not abide by the decision of the tribunal anyway which is
expected to be handed down in April of 2016. (''Sabi ng China, kahit ano pang
maging desisyon do’n sa Tribunal, hindi nila susundin,'' Binay said in the radio
interview.)
Any chance that the Philippines could extract concessions from China to avoid
the adverse decision of the UN was undermined by Binay’s pronouncement. All
China has to do is wait a month after the expected adverse UN tribunal’s
decision and the Philippine claim will be withdrawn by Pres. Binay, the Chinese
will conclude.
Binay’s contention that the only way to resolve the dispute with China is
through “bilateral talks” with China was refuted byForeign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario who explained the government's position in an ANC interview:
“We are for bilateral talks, but we ran into a dead end in terms of using that
approach."
"In the case of Scarborough Shoal, we had over 50 bilateral engagements with
them and that did not work because ... in every bilateral meeting you have with
China, unfortunately, [leads to their saying] to you, 'We have indisputable
sovereignty over the entire South China Sea'," Del Rosario said.
Is Pres. Binay willing to accept China's position that it has “indisputable
sovereignty” over the entire South China Sea?
Binay said in the radio interview that he plans to undertake “joint ventures”
with China. DFA Sec. Del Rosario said while the Philippines is open to
conducting joint oil explorations with China in the disputed waters, ''we should
do this in accordance with the requirements of the constitution. In other words,
it must be in accordance with the Philippine law. And China as of now does not
appear to be in accordance with that. They feel that it should be their laws
that should apply."
"FAITHFULLY UPHOLD THE CONSTITUTION"?
If Binay is elected president, the first words of his oath of office on July 1,
2016 would be that he would swear to “faithfully uphold the Constitution of the
Philippines”. Article XII Section 2 of that Constitution states that “All lands
of the public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils,
all forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber, wildlife, flora
and fauna, and other natural resources are owned by the State. With the
exception of agricultural lands, all other natural resources shall not be
alienated. The exploration, development, and utilization of natural resources
shall be under the full control and supervision of the State.”
It is unconstitutional for Binay to give China any control over the Philippine
shoals and the oil and natural gas underneath them. Any “joint venture” with
China requires that the venture must be under the “full control and supervision”
of the Philippines.
The Philippine Constitution also declares that “the State shall protect the
nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and
exclusive economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to
Filipino citizens.”
US Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Harry Harris, in a speech in Australia two
weeks ago, said: "China is building artificial land by pumping sand on to live
coral reefs - some of them submerged - and paving over them with concrete. China
has now created over 4 sq km (1.5 sq miles) of artificial landmass," he said.
Will Pres. Binay protect the coral reefs of the Philippines?
Article XVIII Sec. 25 of the 1987 Constitution declares that “foreign military
bases, troops, or facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines” unless
approved by the Congress and ratified by the people in a referendum.
Surveillance photos taken by Philippine Air Force jets confirm that China is
building military bases on at least seven of the Philippine shoals including one
on Panganiban Reef (Mischief Reef) which lies only 85 miles from Palawan.
Just exactly how does Pres. Binay plan to “faithfully uphold” the Philippine
Constitution?
His detractors may never accuse Binay of honesty but they must concede he gave
an honest, candid answer in his radio interview - "China has capital, we need
money" - but it was to the Jeopardy question "Why does Binay want China's
support?"
Published 5/3/2015
(The author's latest
book, The New Global Filipino Nationalism, is a collection of essays that have
been published in the Inquirer.net for the past 5 years about the creeping
Chinese invasion of the Philippines and the global Filipino response to it. To
reserve a copy, please send your name and address to Rodel50@gmail.com.The price
of the book will be determined by the number of copies published. The publisher
wants to know the public response to the publication of the book.)
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