China’s diplomacy not working as expected

The People’s Republic of China is having uncomfortable moments where its relations with the Philippines is concerned, and with good reason.

The Philippines today is not the Philippines of seven years ago, when then President Rodrigo Duterte was somehow enveigled to pivot towards China on the belief that the country could never win a war with its powerful neighbor coupled with promises of mega-loans that mostly failed to materialize.

In simple terms, Duterte was duped because he was a dupe, a simpleton who believed anything and everything the Chinese told him. In several visits to China, Duterte shamed the Philippines by acting like Xi Jinping’s pet monkey.

To be honest, President Bongbong Marcos appeared willing to hew closely to Duterte’s irrational path at the start of his presidency. But he appears to have woken up to the subjective truth that he needs the US far, far more than he needs China.

As for Xi, the three-term president of China who seems bent on being president for life is acting like a strongman, but one who is wary of going too far against the US. It must be frustrating for Xi to see the US getting the go signal to set up four new uasi- bases in the hilippines, specifically the parts that face China.

If push comes to shove and a shooting war erupts, China will learn very quickly that its military is no match for the US. No military analyst would place his bet on China to win, although it could in ict serious da age to the before it prays and demands that the UN intervene and tell Uncle Sam to pretty please holster his guns.

As for the Philippines, it need not wage war with China, as the later President Benigno Aquino lll proved. All the country had to do was to take China to court.

Afer the Philippines scored an unexpected but most welcome legal victory, China then acted like a spoiled brat who had been deprived of toys that he was not even playing with, in the first place.

That toy is, of course, the West Philippine Sea, which China insists is part of the South China Sea.

Luckily, Marcos seems to be following some sound advice where the country’s relations with China is concerned. He knows he has to take steps to end the non-stop intrusions of Chinese civilian and military vessels into the WPS.

Marcos still wants to maintain friendly ties with China, but only if the economic and military power stops invading Philippine territory and preventing ilipino fisher en fro plying their trade.

There has been and always will be only one solution to end China’s intrusions.

Given the choice on which country to ally itself with, the majority of Filipinos would pick the US over China any day of the week, and twice on Sundays.

I daresay an overwhelming majority of Pinoys will lean towards the US, with minorities either siding with China or play the nationalist card and say the country shouldn’t take sides at all.

China and its diplomats know this, and have taken an obvious tack of trying to ruin the closeness that Filipinos feel towards the US by making America as the bully who must be cut to size. China even used that word bully to describe the US, and its plans to expand the EDCA, or the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

Yes, China used the word bully to refer to the US, and perhaps there is much truth to this. The US can, if it wants to, bully China, which has been bullying the Philippines for decades. So there.

All that is happening is China getting – potentially – a taste of its own medicine.

A decade or two ago, some studies surmised that under a worsts-case scenario, World War lll could erupt in Asia, not in urope, and the con icting clai s to the wealth under the South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea (of course) would be the spark that would result in the unthinkable.

Nobody wants war, of course, but it’s not clear how much Xi hates the idea of going up against the US and its allies like Japan, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. For as long as the Chinese leader is

Why “soak the rich”? What crimes have they committed?

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not rich.

President Biden released on March 2 a $6.9 trillion federal budget proposing to tax rich people and big corporations. Americans earning at least $400,000 are the targets.

But what have they done to deserve such cruel and unusual punishment?

Did they steal the money that made them rich? If so, they should not only be taxed to death, but they should be sent to jail. However, if they became rich because of hard work or business acumen, they should be left alone to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

If Biden soaks the rich, the rich will simply pass on their increased taxes to their customers like us. We will be the ones who will suffer not the rich.

According to Biden “No billionaire should ever pay a lower tax rate than a school teacher or a firefighter. f that happens, it is because taxation is not based on gross income but on net income after legitimate deductions. It is called taxable inco e . The billionaire ight have legiti ate deductions to such an extent that his taxable inco e is less than that of the school teacher.

To prevent that from happening, people should be taxed on gross income without deductions.

For instance, in Hawaii there is a General Excise Tax. All businesses, including self-employed people and independent contractors, are required to pay this tax. It is based on gross receipts without any deductions. In addition, these people have also to pay an income tax. It is harsh especially to people who earn very little. The ustification That is the price for living in paradise .

If federal taxation is going to be based on gross income, what would be the rate? Let us assume 10% of gross income. Thus a person whose gross income is $1,000,000 would pay $100,000 in taxes. A person whose gross income is $10,000 would pay $1,000.

To the million dollar earner, losing $100,000 of his inco e does not significantly affect his life style. ut a wage earner earning 1 , who loses 1, would be significantly affected in his life style.

o, the policy akers sought to e uali e the effect of taxation by creating a so-called progressive tax based on ability to pay . nder this theory, high inco e groups should pay a larger percentage of income tax than the “low inco e groups, who should be allowed to keep ore of what they earn.

Thus, for a single person, if taxable income is over $0 but not over $10,275, the tax rate is 10% of the amount over $0. If the taxable inco e is over 3 , but not over no li it , the tax is $162,718 plus 37% of the amount over $539,900. different rate is i posed for arried filing ointly or ualifying widower, for arried filing separately, or for head of household.

Taxation of inco e started in 1861 to finance the Civil War. Congress repealed the income tax in 1872.

However, on February 3, 1913, the 16th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified. t provided The Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enueration.

The ustification was to finance erica s participation in World War I. But this was only a pretense because World War I commenced on July 28, 1914 – more than one year after February 3, 1913. How could the income tax proponents foretell that there would be a World War? Furthermore, it was only on April 6, 1917 that Congress voted to declare war on Germany.

So, now the only thing certain are taxes – and death.

But according to the Republicans, Biden’s proposed budget and soak the rich - is dead on arrival in Congress. Long live these legislators. If the rich are not soaked with taxes, they will not raise the prices of their products – hopefully.

Atty. Emmanuel Samonte Tipon was a Fulbright and Smith-Mundt scholar to Yale Law School where he obtained a Master of Laws degree specializing in Constitutional Law. He graduated with a Bachelor

A glimpse of Pinoy educators in the Bay

Ifocus on a few Filipino American educators in the Bay Area for this week’s column. They deserve to be recognized and remembered for the efforts they have exerted and still exerting in aking a difference in the lives of the students.

While Filipino teachers/educators had a hard time getting into the educational system as teachers here in the US as new immigrants, there were some who were lucky and earned their teaching jobs through merits and experience.

Their experience in the Philippines, which was seldom considered for new immigrant applicants, propelled them into getting US teaching jobs which became a dilemma for new teacher-applicants considering that most school administrators look for local experience from the applicants and a local boy (meaning a graduate of US institutions) in the hiring process.

Hellie Mateo, for instance, taught English Language Development (ELD) and Global Literature here in the US for 26 years with the Fremont Union High School District in Sunnyvale- in all of its five high schools. he said got y ingle ub ect econdary Teaching Credential through San Jose State University. My experience as an educator was for the most part very productive and satisfactory due to my supportive supervisors and professional colleagues. We have a Teachers’ Union which supported its members in negotiating for pay increases and better working conditions. Our school district is also one of the few in the Bay Area that paid really well due to its geographic location and socioeconomic demographics. We got a raise on top of the salary increases almost every year based on left-over money from district funds, so I never thought about switching to a different district. The students are very diverse which ade teaching both challenging as well as fulfilling as an educator. retired in une 2 22 after 26 years with the .

She worked with students with special needs thereby redirecting her career toward special education. She spent a few years helping build the Transition Program at the school district, at the same time helping recent high school graduates and other young adults prepare for employment by teaching work skills. Additionally, she developed and conducted a training program for the district’s job coaches - enabling them to better support their students with disabilities at their jobs.

Former Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Dean Roman Dannug, PhD, a resident of Northern California said: “Yes, I got a teaching job at the Concord College of Nursing. I went to credentialing, got a very good rate per hour, and class size was 25 pax maximum which was great. I strictly followed a school-approved subject syllabus, high technology/multi media-driven instruction, and observed a criteria-based grading system that allows a very small percentage of teacher’s discretion… practically everything is measurable based on documented class performance, impressive faculty development program for professional growth, and excellent extension program to support increased enrollment.

To my surprise, our white school director who was a Ph.D. holder talked to me privately and advised that students and colleagues should address me inside the campus as Dr. Dannug, since “we all earned a professional title that separate the ordinary from the extraordinary e phasi ing that the title re uires so e great responsibility in both teacher behavior, delivery and performance inside the program. Over all, my close to years college teaching experience in the was exceedingly great.

Dr. Dannug added: “Managing classes that were full of actual diverse racial and cultural backgrounds beca e ore fulfilling with a profound understanding of “unity in diversity “and full dedication to professional responsibilities - two very important traits for ilipino- erican educators in order to re ain effective agents of change, powerful voices against racism/discrimination and genuine advocates of e ual opportunity for all

Maria Ibarra, on the other hand, was a public-school teacher in the Philippines before immigrating to the US.

Teaching in the is way different co pared to the hilippines in any aspects, she said. Credentials need to be evaluated by an accredited agency. Screening is rigid. You can’t get that job security right away if you haven’t been teaching for more than years in this country. hen the budget is cut, you re the first one to go.

Ibarra further commented: “Compared in the Philippines, if you pass your 3-month probationary period, you’re good to stay unless you committed something against the set policies or regulations. Parents and students in our country have a high regard for teachers since the administration has your back while in this place (referring to the US) the admin is leaning more towards the parents.

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Most of the students here seem not