THERE’S a time to be brave. And there’s a time to duck and head for cover. As my older brother loved to mutter when we were kids: “He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day!”
That, somehow, is how I sometimes feel when I take note of the crossfire we Filipinos find ourselves in these days.
There’s the crossfire from China and the United States over the South China Sea and Taiwan, with the Philippines swinging from one camp to the other based on our incumbent leaders’ perception of what our “national interest” is.
‘… while we are not directly involved in these disputes and are just victims of the crossfire you and I are best advised to keep our ears to the ground and our eyes open.’
This perception has changed remarkably over the last two years, moving the Philippines out from under the claws of the Chinese dragon and into (or perhaps more appropriately back into) the embrace of the talons of the American eagle.
As other nations in our region take a more nuanced stance when it comes to the US-China spat, we have wholeheartedly taken the American side. Something that the overly pro-US public opinion supports.
There’s a second crossfire in which we the Filipino people are caught, and in some ways, this is related to the first.
It’s the President versus the ex-President, the architect of the pivot toward the US versus the architect of the pivot toward China. It’s a deep divide that has now even split the UniTeam.
And this divide is getting deeper, and the words in the word war are getting hotter, by the minute.
It’s crybaby vs. traitor, if one picks and chooses from words that have been thrown about in this word war.
Aren’t you happy that there’s never a dull moment in life on these islands?
Seriously though, neither of the two crossfires can and should be dismissed, or ignored, as they are serious disputes with far-reaching consequences. And they’re not unrelated, mind you. This early, you can already imagine both superpowers keenly watching local political developments — and don’t be surprised for in 2028 there will be a clear pro-China candidate and another pro-US candidate for the presidency.
And so, while we are not directly involved in these disputes and are just victims of the crossfire you and I are best advised to keep our ears to the ground and our eyes open.
Because the coming months will be interesting politically as these two disputes unfold, intensifying as we creep closer to 2028.
