The Laughter of a Hypocritical World

Photo from: CNN Philippines

Joel Rocamora wrote an article in Rappler about Duterte's "pivot to China." He panned Duterte's alignment with China - and Russia. He questioned its strategic value - or lack of it, and declared that Duterte is "incompetent." The gist of Rocamora's article can just be reduced into his two scathing rhetorical questions: "Does he even know the meaning and the repercussions of his anti-US and pro-China statements? Does he realize that the only thing standing in the way of China’s ambitions in Southeast Asia is American military might?" Rocamora's analysis is all shine but wanting in substance. It dismisses Duterte's strategic move as hogwash but fails to demonstrate that this strategic move is the least desirable option given the current geopolitical situation. What ultimately weakened Rocamora's analysis is his questionable appreciation of facts, events, current political economic reality, and US interests.

Duterte's Foreign Policy Doctrine? Pivot to the Rest of the World: Delimitation, Diversification, and Détente

In international relations, an alliance is a coalition formed by two or more countries against their commonly perceived security threat. Duterte doesn't see the United States as a security threat to our country. By building ties with China and Russia, Duterte isn't forging an alliance with them; he's simply diversifying our diplomatic relations. He isn't saying goodbye to America but establishing the boundary of our relationship with Uncle Sam.

The Hague Memorandum: Towards a Philippine South China Sea Policy Based on Kadagat Thinking

The real problem of Filipino fishermen operating in the South China Sea: dwindling fish stocks

In May 2016, Filipino fishermen were arrested by the Malaysian navy near the waters around Commodore Reef, one of the disputed features in the South China Sea. These fishermen are from Zambales. Why did they go as far as that? The same reason Chinese fishermen can now be found near Indonesia: dwindling fish stocks. Every coastal community in the South China Sea has been overfishing; and overfishing in one part of the Sea could affect fish stocks in another area.