THERE is renewed tension between China and the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In the latest incident, a Navy personnel lost a finger during a resupply mission after a skirmish with the Chinese Coast Guard.
For Retired Air Force General Romeo Poquiz, it is painful as a former soldier to see such incidents.
He explained his position in a Facebook post.
According to Poquiz, it is the United States, not the Philippines, that is China’s true adversary in the disputed territories.
He said the Marcos Jr. administration’s excessive alignment with the Americans is why China treats us this way.
How? By allowing the addition of EDCA sites for the Americans.
Unlike Vietnam, which is not harassed by China in the disputed areas, despite its significant reclamation and weaponization of reefs and islands.
“I say again. The Philippines is not the enemy of China in the South China Sea. It is the mighty USA. Why do you think China harasses Filipino citizens doing resupply missions to the Ayungin Shoal but allows Vietnam unhampered reclamation and weaponization of the rocks and shoals it occupies in areas inside china’s 9-dash line? Because Vietnam does not act as a puppet of the USA like the Philippines,” according to Retired Major General Romeo Poquiz.
Poquiz explained that Vietnam’s independence from the US is why China does not bother them.
He added that the West Philippine Sea issue is a small part of Philippine-China relations.
According to the retired general, diplomacy is the solution, not relying on the US.
“What is big and a no-no to China is the US meddling in purely Asian domestic affairs, where China is encircled by many US bases, including 9 from the Philippines, and missiles pointed at China,” Poquiz added.
Poquiz emphasized that Filipinos cannot expect help from the US if war breaks out between the Philippines and China.
Like in Ukraine, the US will only send bombs, guns, and war equipment, leading our soldiers to certain danger.
He questioned whether the government was truly prepared for war, pointing out that the AFP’s oil supply for tanks and vehicles would only last seven days.
“With the privatization of the oil industry and oil deregulation, the government relies on the private sector to do all these. Do the private oil companies have enough stocks and strategic reserves?” stated Poquiz.
The retired major general also asked how the government would feed Filipinos during wartime when food prices were already high.
“During war, how do we feed our people when we import rice, despite us being an agricultural country? We even import fish, especially the poor man’s galunggong [mackerel scad], despite the fact that we are an archipelago surrounded by seas and oceans,” he stressed.
Poquiz advised the government not to be deceived by the US and not to let pride lead the country into war.
“And we are raring to fight, instead of sitting down and negotiating as friends, partners, and neighbors, because we are warriors and our egos are touched?” he added.
This sentiment is supported by a former US marine corps intel officer.
Ex-US intel officer to Filipinos: Wake up to reality, the US won’t help you
“China doesn’t want war. And if you would engage China in diplomacy, and as we’ve all indicated here, America has long since lost the skill set necessary to carry out diplomacy. But the Filipinos, the Philippine people can reignite this, relearn it, and use this skill to prevent a war. But if you continue to behave as colonial subjects, and I know that’s a sore, sore, sore subject for Filipinos, because you were the colonial subjects of America. We still view you as our colonial subjects. We don’t like you. We don’t care about you. We just want to use you. Grow up. Grow up and act responsibly. Take control of your own future. America is not here to help you. America is here only to use you until there’s nothing left. And then we will discard you on the trash heap of history,” according to Scott Ritter, Former US Marine Corps Intelligence Officer.
