 |
| Ousted chief justice Maria Lourdes Sereno and photo of Chinese President Xi Jinping with President Rodrigo Duterte / composite image from Google |
San Beda lawyer and social media personality, Atty. Bruce
Rivera excellently explained to ousted Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno’s
question as to “why the closeness to China?”
Sereno fired the question to President Rodrigo Duterte
during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinpin to the Philippines just few
days ago.
‘Why the closeness to
China?’
“We as a nation, especially our President, should not forget
what is most important to Filipinos – love of God, freedom and dignity of every
human being, preservation of the Philippines for Filipinos,” Sereno said in a
statement.
“China opposes and crushes those values. Why the closeness
to China and the repudiation of our international friends who share these
values? Don’t negate who we are as a people, Mr. President,” she added
According to Rivera, he did not expect someone like Sereno
to ask that kind of question.
‘What’s wrong with
being friends?’
The lawyer started off by saying that China has known the Philippines since the Spaniards colonized us. And in fact, according to Rivera, the Chinese dynasties did not fight wars to invade the country when they already had the chance.
“The US invaded us and we are friends with them. Japan also
invaded us and we are friends with Japan. So, what is wrong with being friends
with a neighbor who never invaded us?” Rivera added.
Below is Atty. Rivera’s complete post:
SERENO ASKS WHY THE CLOSENESS TO CHINA
LET ME ANSWER HER
LET ME ANSWER HER
I would have expected someone who is not a lawyer, who has
not occupied a Chief Justice position and has not been exposed to international
relations and diplomacy to ask that question but not Atty. Sereno. This is a
question usually asked by an uninformed ordinary person. So, I will assume her
to be the latter and answer the question.
FIRST, China is a neighbor who has known us even before the
Spanish colonized us. In fact, even during the time when Chinese dynasties
started to invade areas and territories, they did not fight wars to invade the
Philippines when they had the chance before. Never in history wherein we had a
threat of being invaded by China. The US invaded us and we are friends with
them. Japan also invaded us and we are friends with Japan. So, what is wrong
with being friends with a neighbor who never invaded us? Yes, they occupied
several islands in the WPS whose ownership was disputed but the fact remained
that China could have colonized us but they chose not to. Why? Because, they
already saw us as someone who is similar to them in many ways. In short, you do
not colonize or invade someone you share the same way of life. It defeats the
purpose.
SECOND, we are close to China because whether you like it or
not, our culture is more Chinese than it will ever be American or even
Japanese. Before Uncle Sam introduced us the hamburgers, the Spanish introduced
us to lechon or paella and even when Japan made us like sushi, we already
learned about the Chinese culture. It was already assimilated in our way of
life because for thousand of years before Magellan set foot in Limasawa, the
Chinese had been trading with us, marrying natives and many Chinese have
already called our lands their own. If you look at our Muslim brothers and
sisters, many of them have distinct Chinese features. And why is that? It was
not because China was able to conquer Mindanao. It was an assimilation of races
due to thousand of years of interaction. And even with Spanish, American and
Japanese influences over the years, our Chinese heritage remains strong and
unyielding. You see, Maria Lourdes Sereno sounds Spanish but if you look at
your face, you are more Chinese than you are Spanish. So, yes...that is a
reason to be close to China.
THIRD, China is a superpower not just in terms of military
power but economic power as well. If it really wanted to subdue us, there is
nothing the world can do. The UN or any member of the Security Council could
not stop China from annexing Tibet or Mongolia. Yes, Taiwan stood up against
China but Taiwan has historical motivations to be where it is now. And there is
a big geographical reason why China did not force itself on Taiwan in the same
way it did not colonize the Philippines. Let me just summarize it in one word:
TYPHOONS. But I am digressing here. Let us be logical. If we go out of our way
to befriend the US, the EU, Russia, Japan and other superpowers, then there is
no reason not to do so with the geographically closest superpower. What is so
wrong when we befriend a superpower whose missiles can reach our shores when we
have been kissing theass of other superpowers whose missiles are so far away
to threaten us.
FOURTH, this is now a world of geopolitics rather than
ideology. Before, we based our alliances on ideology. Hence, the Philippines
gravitated on Western states and shunned communist leaning states. However,
with communism and capitalism concepts muddled and rendered coexistential, gone
are the days when we fear closeness to China or Vietnam. In fact, in these
times when European countries had to form the EU for economic exigencies, we
have to rely on being close with our Asian neighbors for our own collective
self-presevation and interest.
FIFTH, what is wrong with being close? When we were so close
with the US to the point that we allowed our lands to be used as launching
grounds so the US can wage wars on their enemies, thereby making them our
enemies, it was okey for many of us, why is it so wrong to engage another state
in closeness. Close lang po, hindi naman tayo magpapagamit tulad ng
pagpapagamit natin sa Amerika. Have we not learned that lesson yet? My point
is, we have to be friends with everyone because it is in our best interest. We
can be close to China without burning bridges with the US and being close with
Japan at the same time. The reality is, we have to understand our position in
today’s world. We cannot afford to be burning bridges with anyone. After all,
closeness does not mean we have surrendered our sovereignty and independence.
LASTLY, when it is apparent that China has shown their
intention to make us our friend, what is wrong with reciprocating or just being
cordial. Remember, the Queen of England has not made a state visit to the
Philippines but we always see the UK as a close friend so when a state makes an
effort to visit the Philippines like what Japan and China has done, is it wrong
to reciprocate with cordiality. Feeling close nga tayo sa US kahit na hindi
tayo binibisita nila ng matagal na panahon. And please do not tell me that the
US has always repected our independence for us to not put them in the same
plane with China.
Truth of the matter is, Atty. Sereno, the only reason why
you are making an issue out of our closeness is because you are anti-Duterte
and you want to make it appear that we are kowtowing to China. Truth of the
matter is, the fact the China had to go the us means they respect us to give us
the merit of a state visit. And that speaks highly of the Duterte foreign
policy. Yes, China is a bully but so is the US. They are bullies because they
have the power to back it up. Hence, if a bully proposes to be your friend, it
is stupid to say no.
Source: Atty. Bruce Rivera
