Opinion FORMATION GARY OLIVAR
Allies
OUR neighbors in Thailand were treated to a special Valentine’s Day gift—sorta—when no less than the head of the US Pacific Command launched the annual “Cobra Gold” joint USThai military exercise, the largest such exercise in the region. The vaguely Asian-looking PacCom head, Admiral Harry Harris, is the most senior US official to ever attend this 10day exercise. In his opening remarks, he insisted that “our alliance is a big deal. Nations don’t enter security treaty alliances lightly. It means we’re in it for the long haul.” Recall that the supremely self-righteous Obama administration canceled millions of dollars of military aid to Thailand after their military pulled off a coup in 2014 that put the current Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha in power. Not to be outdone, the Thais thereupon ramped up joint exercises with China and turned to them, as well as the Russians, for their hardware, including three Chinese submarines purchased last year for a cool billion dollars. This pivot-away clearly got the attention of the new American president and former dealmaker. The signal Trump now seems to be sending is that geopolitical realities still matter more than differences of opinion over human rights. It’s a message that he probably hopes will also resonate among Thailand’s neighbors, including the Philippines, which if anything may even be more valuable to him because it straddles the West Philippine Sea waters so coveted by both US and Chinese naval planners. Commercial relationships also matter. The new US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson (fondly nicknamed “T. Rex”), used to be CEO of ExxonMobil. The world’s largest oil company notes on its website that it has been in Thailand for over a hundred years, with “a full range of downstream operations…and an onshore natural gas production site”. Evidently the policy of playing the US off against China has been around in the region even before our own President Duterte picked it up. But in our case, there are additional issues to work around that the Thais don’t have to deal with. One is the risks posed to our BPO businesses by Trump’s protectionist instincts on trade. A second, though more remote, is the treatment of thousands of Filipino immigrants who are in the US illegally. And the third, of course, is our country being caught in the cross-fire if a shooting war breaks out between the US and China. All of these risks only reconfirm that Duterte’s pivot-away from the US is eminently sensible. But it’s a policy that will require a lot of flexibility and creative thinking to pull off, such as relying on our business leaders to keep back channels always open to the Tillersons in
their rolodexes. And when soldiers like Admiral Harris promise that the US “is in it for the long haul,” let’s not just take his word for it. Let’s make sure that we hear and see the same message from his political bosses. In the meanwhile, this newfound US support for Thailand is already a boon, in and of itself. A stronger Thailand can only mean a stronger Asean, with each link in the chain depending on the integrity of the others. *** Elsewhere in Asia, a senior Japanese minister last week expressed the commitment of his government to pursue “deeper defense cooperation” with the Philippines through inter-service exchanges and transfers of military equipment. Speaking in Tokyo, Vice Minister Ro Manabe said that Japan will contribute to efforts by the Philippines, together with Indonesia and Malaysia, to curb piracy and kidnapping in their maritime areas. This March, the Philippines will be taking delivery of the first of five TC-90 aircraft for use in maritime surveillance. The Japanese have even gone so far as to share with us the results of their monitoring of Chinese and other activities in disputed West Philippine Sea waters. In exchange, our Defense officials have encouraged them to pursue a visiting forces agreement with us, similar to what we have with the US. What seems to be developing here is nothing less than a Japanese “pivot to the PH.” It’s evident from the ostentatious welcome they gave to the President during his recent visit there, which he in turn reciprocated by showing the Japanese prime minister around his home in another display of his trademark charm and informality. Given the historical rivalry between China and Japan, as well as more recent face-offs over islands disputed by the two, it is clearly in Japan’s interest to counter-balance the “pivot to China” (among others) that the President has to execute in order to properly distance us from the US. At the same time, because Japan is still, and is likely to remain, America’s most dependable ally in the region— measured by capability as well as loyalty—Japanese engagement with countries like ours serves to sustain an indirect US security presence in the region. As the war of words heats up between the two increasingly bellicose rivals, China and the US, it is comforting to know that a strong but silent type like Japan has our back. This is probably what Duterte had in mind when he called them “closer than brothers” to us.
Each link in the chain depends on the integrity of others.
Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.
Silence From A4 ebbs away only because he does not apostatize. Ferreira assures him that when he apostatizes, they will be freed from their misery. But there is an interesting twist to the story. Both the daimyo Inonue, notorious for bringing even the most steadfast of priests to apostasy, and Ferreira tell him that Christianity cannot really take root in Japan. There is no soil for it in Japan, and what Rodrigues thought was Christianity that he found among the faithful was some grotesque belief into which Christianity had morphed in that forbidding country. He is also told that he does not have to turn against his Deus and Jesus Christ in his heart. All he has to do is to make a show of trampling on the fumi-e,
BACK CHANNEL
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017
A5
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Where there’s smoke
ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO THE old saying “where there’s smoke, there is fire” is evident in the ongoing war between a multi-national cigarette manufacturing company and a local brand that has gained a sizable share of the market. Philip Morris, Inc. has harnessed it full resources to mount a demolition job against rising star Mighty Cigarettes Corp. as shown by the PR blitz of PMI in major newspapers. Note the news report that the owners of Mighty were behind the passage of House Bill 4144 proposing a twotier tax on cigarettes sold locally. PMI, no doubt, knows the Philippines is a big market for their high-end, highly priced products. With health-conscious smokers in the United States and Europe, PMI turned its attention to Asia, a most lucrative area for cigarettes because the health warnings on the danger of smoking are not heeded as much as in the developed countries. To get a bigger foot in the door, PMI signed a merger with taipan Lucio Tan’s Fortune Tobacco. Then came the hatchet report that the Bureau of Customs was going to slap a tax-smuggling case against Mighty. There is no truth to the report, BOC itself denied. Mighty Corp. Executive Vice President and spokesman, retired judge Oscar P. Barrientos, said in a statement that “there is no pending case with any government agency nor a notice of
investigation by the Bureau of Customs following the inaccurate report the Filipino-owned company will be suspended for smuggling.” How in the world then did the smuggling story pass the editors’ scrutiny of that major daily? Judge Barrientos said the scurrilous story is libelous and the company is studying its legal options against the reporter and the newspaper. Barrientos also made clear Mighty Corp. has long been out of the cigarette importation business since it was making more money in the domestic market. In fact, Mighty Corp. is considering making an initial public offering, confident there will be a lot of takers. Philip Morris tobacco has a long history of craving to capture and monopolize the Asian market to offset the loss of market share in the US and Europe. In Indonesia, PMI tried to take over the company that manufactures the popular brand Krateka but failed. There were also overtures to buy Mighty and seal a monopoly of the Philippine cigarette market. The owners of Mighty who had built their brand after 72 years declined PMI’s offer. So this is a case of if you can’t buy them, destroy their strategy. Mighty is fighting back, not only for its own survival, but also for the thousands of tobacco farmers in the Ilocos from whom it sources leaves for its products, If PMI takes over the huge Philippine market, the local tobacco growers will lose their livelihood as Philip Morris will be importing their own material from the tobacco-growing states in America. This was why the House, particularly congressmen from the country’s tobacco-producing provinces, passed
House Bill 4144 calling for a two- tier tax system on cigarettes sold here. PMI may not realize it but a unitary tax on cigarettes might just turn off smokers against their more expensive brand. Because it would mean higher tax for the Philip Morris brand, the prices on their brand will have to be passed on to consumers. Thanks to PMI, a boycott of Philip Morris is not a remote possibility with more smokers switching to the low-priced but quality Mighty brand. With a two-tier tax system on cigarettes, smokers can still enjoy a good smoke at less price with the Mighty brands. There is much to be said about the multinational Philip Morris which repatriates revenues to the mother company in the US while the local Mighty Corp. sets aside a sizable chunk of its profits into its corporate social responsibility. Its community projects include church renovation and delivery of relief goods during calamities like typhoons and earthquakes. Writing ‘30’ In the journalism profession, writing “30” at the end of a reporter’s news story means nothing follows. It also means the sad story of a journalist passing away. The strange and eccentric symbol has several versions of its beginnings. Of several versions, the one most plausible is that during the days before the advent of technological advance such as the laptop, desk top and wifi, stories were sent by reporters to their offices via teletype. The teletype operator would then type XXX at the end of the dispatch to say nothing follows. Since XXX in the Roman numeral means 30, editors and reporters picked up the teletype
operator’s symbol to connote end of story. It then evolved into “30” and sometimes spelled out as “endit.” Coincidentally, the Manila Standard this week observed its 30th anniversary. This major daily is not writing “30” but marking its 30th year of publication. Now, this is a milestone given that newspaper readership in this country and elsewhere in the world is declining. Hence we often hear of newspapers closing down or merging to share a big city’s readership. This declining newspaper readership can be blamed on the Internet and social media which contains the news plus other feature stories on health, etc. That the Standard, which the late Rod Reyes founded with me as its first editor, flourished and continued publication to this day is a tribute to the businessmen owners who kept faith with the Standard’s potential. From businessmen Manda Elizalde to Alfonso Yuchengco, Andy Soriano, Ricky Razon and to its present owners Philip and Martin Romualdez, the Standard has gained a fair share of the market.. The Standard’s opinion page is its strong suit with its array of hard-hitting columnists whose views sometimes even clash with each other’s. This is as it should be. When Rod Reyes and I launched the Standard on Feb. 11, 1987, quite frankly we didn’t think it would last and survive this long. That it did after more than a quarter of a century is a tribute to the men and women behind it. These are former editors, Jullie Yap Daza; Jojo Robles; managing editor Mon Tomeldan, chief photographer Bobby Cabrera and IT chief of technical services, Feriel Agustines.
Trump’s turmoil VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ WITH colossal incompetence and a severe shortage of integrity. That is how best to describe Donald Trump’s presidency in his first 23 days as the most powerful man in the world, a man who holds the trigger on some 4,500 nuclear warheads and $9 trillion worth of nuclear weapons. The real estate billionaire is the first president to be elected by the electoral college without having served in government. Trump has had no single day of experience as a public servant. Just before Trump’s inaugural, his press secretary, Sean Spicer, told media that “business as usual is over,” that Trump’s war with media would continue. In his first press conference, Spicer smirked: “There’s been a lot of talk in the media about the responsibility to hold Donald Trump accountable, and I’m here to tell you that it goes two ways. We’re going to hold the press accountable as well.” Well, the world’s most influential and best media organizations were just too happy to oblige. The elite of US media led by The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time Warner CNN, monitored daily the Trump White House with laser focus not seen since the days of Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. After 23 days, Trump has been found wanting as the kind of president Americans deserve and the world desires. After nearly a month, the betting
Squelching... From A4 campaign continues to chug along. For instance, persistent reports that Marcos will be appointed to Duterte’s Cabinet as soon as the one-year ban on losing candidates in the previous election ends is being spun into a demand—first made by an unabashedly Yellow
a crude image of Christ, and he would be let go. Even Christ would apostatize for love of his people. That is Ferreira’s line that shakes him rudely from his self-assurance. Was he being more faithful as a priest by stubbornly refusing to abnegate, or would he be following in the footsteps of the merciful Christ would do all and give all out of love for the suffering? Almost in a stupor he is taken before the daimyos and he looks at the face on the fumi-e. “Trample, for that is why I came into the world: to be trampled upon so that all might live”, the face seems to tell him. Is this not in fact the core of the theology of atonement? And so he tramples on the very face that inspired him, that enamored him, in a gesture that—quite strangely, also liberated him. Thereafter he was known as Apostate Paul. But Endo makes it clear that he had not really
is on how long the Trump presidency will last. Spicer assures, however, his boss will run for reelection in 2020. Trump has divided the world. He quarreled with China. He imposed a ban on Muslims from seven Muslim countries but exempted Muslims from nations where he has had business interests. Unhappily, among the Muslim countries exempted from the ban were those which have a record of having harbored anti-American terrorists and terrorists who actually committed acts of terrorism against America – Saudi Arabia (15 of 18 9/11 bombers were Saudi citizens; Bin Laden was a son of a Saudi billionaire), Egypt, and Pakistan. A US Appeals Court has upheld a temporary restraining order on the Muslim ban. The new American president decided to proceed with building a wall on the US border with Mexico, a wall that could easily cost $10 billion. Trump had the gall to say Mexico should pay for it. At the same time, he showed little liking for the NATO security alliance and told its members to beef up spending for their own self defense. Chic retailer Nordstrom stopped selling the clothing, shoes and handbags carrying the name of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, claiming sales of her fashion brand were down. The President denounced Nordstrom from the White House, a serious violation of presidential ethics. Trump tweeted his daughter had been treated unfairly. “With the world in turmoil, his three-week-old administration is consumed by a self-inflicted crisis, marked by a pattern of re-
congressman—that Marcos should withdraw his protest if he is named by Duterte to some appointive post. This is a stupid (and very Yellow) twisting of a legitimate story. After all, it’s long been established in jurisprudence that the automatic extinguishing of an electoral protest happens only when the protester runs for another elective post, not because
apostatized, he had not severed his longing for the Lord, and that is what made his “betrayal” more painful. He was not free. In fact, he remained a prisoner. In his spirit, he remained a priest of Jesus Christ, aware that while, in a sense, he had to turn his back on his Master, he did so too in imitation of the Lord whose mercy disposed him to shed the very last drop of his blood for the sake of others! Silence—it is the silence of God that troubled Rodrigues most. Why should God be silent amid the suffering of his people? Why should God be silent while his people received the most savage blows because of their fidelity to him? That is the novel’s nagging question. That is the question that perturbs every believer. Somewhere towards the end of the novel, there is a mysterious answer proposed: “I was not silent. I was suffering with you.” That intrigues me be-
current lying and incompetence, and perhaps worse,” concludes a stinging New York Times editorial on Feb. 14, 2017. On Monday, Feb, 14 (Feb. 15 in Manila), the Washington Post disclosed that Michael Flynn, a retired marine general, had had discussions with Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador, during the campaign and after President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Russia on Dec. 29, for hacking the Democratic National Committee’s campaign computers, allegedly to benefit Trump in the election. The Post said Flynn suggested that Moscow not respond in kind to the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats ordered by Obama— advice that Russian President Vladimir Putin heeded in declining to take retaliatory action. Unfortunately, Kislyak’s communications had been monitored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation which apparently leaked the information. Under US law, it is a felony for a private citizen, who was Flynn before he became Trump’s national security adviser, to interfere in such US sanctions. To many observers, Flynn’s dalliance with the Russian ambassador was an act of treason. Accordingly, the US Justice Department told the White House in January that Flynn had misled senior officials about a phone call with the Russian ambassador. Justice told the White House that, contrary to Flynn’s claims, he had discussed American sanctions against Russia with Kislyak, the Russian ambassador. When the Flynn-Kislyak call discussing the sanctions was leaked on Jan. 12, Flynn denied it. Trump’s press secretary Sean
he has accepted an appointive one. But this is only the latest proof of the hatred that wells up in the Yellows whenever they hear the Marcos name. Even Duterte’s own problems with the pro-Aquino clique, after all, can be traced ultimately to the perception that he is sympathetic to the Marcoses. Which means that there are really two ways for
Spicer, also denied it on Jan. 13. Vice President Mike Pence similarly denied it on Jan. 15. On Jan. 23, three days after Trump’s inaugural, Spicer again denied it. However, the then-acting attorney general, Sally Yates, whom Trump later fired, revealed on Jan. 23 to Donald McGahn, the White House counsel, that indeed sanctions were discussed. Flynn’s lying made him open to Russian blackmail. On Feb. 14, said the New York Times, the White House admitted that Trump had been told on Jan. 26, about Flynn’s deception, even though the president told reporters on Friday, Feb. 10, that he was unaware of a news report to that effect. Flynn, sneered that The Times, “a hothead and an ideologue, was not fit to be national security adviser in the first place. That Mr. Trump clung to such a compromised person in such a sensitive position is at best an abysmal failure of judgment. As late as Monday, Mr. Flynn was in security briefings and had access to the president.” After Flynn resigned, Trump’s labor secretary-designate fastfood tycoon Andrew Puzder abruptly withdrew his nomination Feb. 15, after Senate Republicans refused to support him after discovery he belatedly paid taxes on his housekeeper whom he fired. Puzder, in any case, had showed tendencies to be anti-labor refusing benefits due workers. AP said what troubled majority Republicans most of all was Puzder’s acknowledgment that he had not paid taxes on the housekeeper until after Trump nominated him to Labor post Dec. 9 — five years after he had fired the worker.
Duterte to be rid of the carping from (and plotting by) the bitter Yellows: He can turn Yellow himself and publicly profess allegiance to the political faith of the Aquino family, or he can allow the Supreme Court to do the job of removing Robredo and replacing her with Marcos. Duterte isn’t about to turn Yellow, by all indications. So he needs
cause it calls for a totally different concept of God, one that will not have God intervening at every cruel turn, and saving his children from pain and misery. The silence of God is a reproach only when one thinks that one knows when God should speak, but that is a tremendous assumption, is it not. It is a projection of a “big brother” image—one who hovers over a child to keep him from every tripping, who corrects all his mistakes and shields him from all wrong. Of course, this keeps a child forever a child. But if one sees God in the fidelity of people no matter the suffering they must endure, if one sees God in the constant summons to be faithful and true, no matter the ugliness, misery and poverty (an ubiquitous scene in Endo’s portrayal of the pockets of Japan that had received the faith), then one is entertaining a notion of God that is not challenged by
the insurance of having Marcos as his vice president, in order to shut up the Yellows who are constantly trying to remove him from office in order to bring back one of their own to power. Having a vice president who is going to work hand in hand with Duterte to push his administration’s agenda, both in Cabinet and outside of it, is just a bonus.
silence, whose very presence can be revealed in silence! In the end, Rodrigues, who has been given a Japanese name and a Japanese wife, dies —still reproaching himself for his betrayal, and in that irony, still faithful. He dies and is cremated in Buddhist rites. Through it all, God remains silent, but in the silence of Rodrigues’ own agony till the end and his loathing for Ferreira in whom he saw himself, in his constant recollection of the beautiful face that had kept him in the seminary, and on which he had trampled, one is told about the power and magnificence of this Deus! Scorsese, my brother and sister-in-law tell me, directed a beautiful movie: powerful in cinematography and excellent in its artistry. But one has to read the novel to accept Endo’s challenge to think about God and about oneself—in silence!