There are many bloggers whom I visit and whose thoughts I appreciate reading because they either always have something pertinent to say or because they inherently profess the same political views I do and sometimes both, but one of the rising stars in my blogsphere book is J who authors The Nutbox.
In his profile J says that he's only 20, and pictures that he's posted in Flickr (from which I lifted the one featured here) really do show a teen-agerish young man.
I recommend that our diplomats get cracking and read J's recommendations. Often, the solution to a complex problem is found in the most simple of propositions. They should pick his brains. Often too, the best solutions come from younger brains that have not been polluted or clouded by layers and layers of warped ozones of nonsense geopolitickings. The solutions that J have offered are doable, they can be easily cross-checked with what has already been done and can be further finetuned by the members of the senior anaylists and diplomats at the Philippine foreign affairs department.
- Manila Bay Watch
Manila's Best Option On the Spratlys Dispute
By "J", The NutBox
Much has been said about the treasonous deal Gloria Arroyo forged with Beijing and Hanoi. But only a few seems to be looking for the best way out of this imbroglio for the Philippines.
The agreement breached the Constitution, offered Philippine territories for exploration by foreigners and destroyed the political solidarity of the ASEAN, which was the key to the region’s successes against Chinese provocations during the last decade. But now that these damages have been exposed, what steps should Manila take to clean the mess?
If the Philippines would have the JMSU canceled, she would incur the wrath of China and Vietnam without gaining back the confidence of other ASEAN claimants who must have felt betrayed when Manila bypassed them during the forging of the agreement in 2004.
I can say there’s nothing wrong with scrapping the deal and upsetting Beijing, if only to promote Philippine interests in the region. But before Manila do that, she must first make sure that she would have the ASEAN to back her up once China explodes in anger. That’s because the Philippines alone could never handle China’s wrath. The Philippines needs to stick with the ASEAN and urge the bloc to face Chinese threat as a united group. This has consistently worked in the past.
Sadly, however, the damage with regards to the unity of these ASEAN claimants has been done and scrapping the deal at this point would not repair it.
What, then, should the Philippines do? Here are my suggestions:
Click here to read full text.
The agreement breached the Constitution, offered Philippine territories for exploration by foreigners and destroyed the political solidarity of the ASEAN, which was the key to the region’s successes against Chinese provocations during the last decade. But now that these damages have been exposed, what steps should Manila take to clean the mess?
If the Philippines would have the JMSU canceled, she would incur the wrath of China and Vietnam without gaining back the confidence of other ASEAN claimants who must have felt betrayed when Manila bypassed them during the forging of the agreement in 2004.
I can say there’s nothing wrong with scrapping the deal and upsetting Beijing, if only to promote Philippine interests in the region. But before Manila do that, she must first make sure that she would have the ASEAN to back her up once China explodes in anger. That’s because the Philippines alone could never handle China’s wrath. The Philippines needs to stick with the ASEAN and urge the bloc to face Chinese threat as a united group. This has consistently worked in the past.
Sadly, however, the damage with regards to the unity of these ASEAN claimants has been done and scrapping the deal at this point would not repair it.
What, then, should the Philippines do? Here are my suggestions:
Click here to read full text.
