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PH envoy to US hits China: ‘Masyado na tayong ginagago’
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Balikan ang bahagi ng ating interview kay Philippine Ambassador to the US Babe Romualdez tungkol sa pambu-bully ng China sa Pilipinas sa West Philippine Sea
Christian Esguerra
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Run time: 13:31
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Video Transcript / Subtitles:( AI generated. About AI subtitles » )
00:00.0
... During the past 6 years, we know that the previous administration actually didn't use ang ating arbitral victory. I remember sinabi ni President Duterte diyan in July 2016 kakaupo pa lang niya sa off-landing, he didn't want to antagonize China.
00:23.2
... And it took a very long time toward the end of his administration, before I actually mentioned clearly the importance of the arbitral award. So ano yung nawala sa atin over the past 6 years and are we doing enough to make up for those?
00:54.2
... And in fairness to him, he really meant what he said. He wants to see how we can do it. And if it means that we will have to distance ourselves from their number one competitor, which is the United States, he was also trying to do that.
01:11.2
... But in the end, nothing really happened. China did not see that as a way to be able to peacefully resolve the issues. It became, well I wouldn't want to say it became worse, but it is worse today in the sense that now they are even telling us to remove whatever structure we have right now in the Eurozone.
01:32.2
... So it's a catch-up situation to a certain extent but now I think it's just the inflection point. We have to do something about it. Otherwise, as I said, we will wake up one day, wala na tayong bayan.
02:02.2
... The United States and other outside parties like Japan, Australia, Canada, EU, sinasabi, huwag kayong manghihimasok sa bakuran namin. This is between the Philippines and China. So basically the bilateral track. Would that still be a wise move if ever that is even being considered by DiMarco's administration? Or we've learned our lessons from that, hindi na pwedeng gamitin yung bilateral track?
02:32.2
Bilateral track for me, when you are going to do any negotiation, you always negotiate from a position of strength. And we all admit we don't have the wherewithal to be able to negotiate from a position of strength. But now that we have disagreements with the United States and strengthening our relationship, I think we're in a better position now to be able to sit down and say, eto, seryoso ang pag-usapan natin dito.
02:58.2
Because we have an ally that is prepared now to support us in this endeavor. That is what's important, you see. You never negotiate from a position of weakness because they'll just push you around, which is exactly what they did.
03:14.2
They tell us one thing but they do something else. Hindi pwedeng ganun. Kaya nagagalit ang tao. The ordinary Filipino can see it very clearly. Masyado na tayong ginagago, basically. That's really what it is. Hindi na pwede yan.
03:35.2
Because not only with the majority of Filipinos are going to feel as if things are just going down the drain. They're feeling helpless. Our fishermen is really the front line right there. Many of our fishermen are so frustrated.
03:54.2
They come home after a whole night of fishing or whatever. Kakunti lang yun ang kukuha nila. It's not enough to be able to survive and to make money out of it. Maybe sometimes what I'm hearing is that they go home with just enough to feed their family. That's all.
04:14.2
Ano natin? Resources natin yan. And we're only talking about fishermen and everything. Hindi pa kasali dyan yung destruction of the environment. Hindi pa kasali dyan yung oil and gas na kailangan rin natin yan. In two years time, our energy requirement is going to be so high and we need all of those resources, which is ours.
04:38.2
Which is the most important thing. Atin yan eh. Bakit naman natin pamimigay? Or we just say, sige kasenya na muna yan. Hindi pwede. Magugutom tayong lahat yan.
04:52.2
Buti na banggit yung food security issue. Kasi sa iba baka masyadong malayo sa bituka yung pinag-uusapan natin. But I hope we cannot overemphasize this. Yung issue ng food security. Dahil exclusive economic zone sa mga viewers po natin, tayo po ang may exclusive rights or sovereign rights para dun sa mga resources na meron dyan kasama isda.
05:14.2
So kung di natin ma-exploit or even ma-explore lang including yung natural resources dyan, tayo po yung talo. Now, nabanggit yung po yan. Napaka-importante yan. I think it's pretty clear naman to any right-thinking Filipino kung sino yung nasa tama at sino yung nasa mali. Even without actually reading the arbitral award.
05:34.2
Although I would suggest our kababayan actually read the 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Pero yan nga, I'd like to go to the issue of the influence operations. Kayo sabi nyo when we started this discussion, kayo mismo na bibiktima pati ilang diplomats na kilala nyo.
06:04.2
From where you're sitting, how serious is this influence operations by China? From inside?
06:35.2
So, we're facing very serious issues here. So, trying to influence or the influencers is another way of being able to change the narrative, which is what is being done right now. That is the reason why we have to come out.
06:56.2
And that's the reason why I told Secretary Malano and I told also the President that we have to set the record straight that ito yung nanayari dyan. Hindi natin pwede itagurin yan. Kailangan ilabas lahat yan. At kailangan malaman ng taong bayan lahat yan nanayari.
07:14.2
So that they will see that what the government will do in relation to what we're doing with the United States and other countries is clearly the right way to go. Ngayon, ang ginagawa nila is obviously they're doing discrediting.
07:31.2
Hindi yan, pro-American yan or Amboy and everything like that. Para ang tao hindi man ninawala. Hindi, wala. Kasi believed lang masyadong. Sana kung ganoon lang talaga. Hindi nga. Alam naman natin very serious itong these things that we're facing right now.
07:50.2
And ako naniniwala ako sa totoo lang that if we do not do what we're doing right now, we're going to be in a worse shape in less than three to five years. Why? Because number one, as I said, we need those resources. We cannot lose those resources. We cannot give up on those resources.
08:10.2
Because tayo magugutom tayo lahat. And secondly, what is really what's important is that if this, if our country is influenced by another country to be able to, that is parang we are going to become a vassal state. They're saying, oh, parang colony of the United States. That's not true. Filipinos love to go to the United States. We tell them, wag na kayo pumunta doon. But they want to go there.
08:37.2
We have 4.3 million Filipinos living in the United States, Filipino-Americans. And every other person has a cousin, relative or friend who lives in the United States. That's a given. The relationship we have in the United States is very special compared to other countries. And there is nothing you can do about that. And Filipinos will never go either way. It will take centuries for things to change.
09:03.2
Actually, it's validated also by a survey before that Filipinos trust the United States more than they trust China. Although sa akin naman, kaibigin naman dapat lahat diyan. Pero siyempre, pag inaabuso ka, hindi pwede magpakatanga. That's the point.
09:20.2
No, definitely. Alam mo, I was in China, Christian, in 1976. I was there in 1976 with our basketball team. We had what we call basketball diplomacy. I was a news reporter, sumama ako sa basketball team.
09:38.2
My uncle, Eduardo Romualdez, who was our ambassador to Washington then, was appointed by President Marcos Sr. to be the head of the delegation to start working on diplomatic relations that we were going to open. And at that time, China was practically backwards completely. There was only one hotel, the Friendship Hotel.
10:03.2
But I could see the potential of what would happen in China. So sabi ko, this is the right way to go. Kailangan meron tayong magandang relations sa China kasi it's a big country and it had a lot of potential. And sure enough, when we went back in 1983 with President Marcos Jr., he was the governor of Ilocos then, talagang nag-iba na.
10:24.2
And then in 1999, I went back there. In 2011, I went with President Noy Noy Aquino. China was really what it is. And certainly, it would have been perfect for us to have a strong relationship with a country like China because not only are they our neighbors, but they were a country that was really moving forward.
10:45.2
But now that this is happening here, it's a different story altogether. They have a different objective. And that is where I think we have to draw the line. We have to say what is it that we want. We want to keep our country, our territory, the way it is, not to be taken over by any one country.
11:10.2
The United States is not taking over our country. They may have a lot of influence, but that is because of years of that kind of relationship, as I said. Every other Filipino wants to go to the United States. That's a fact of life.
11:25.2
Okay. By the way, speaking of options, personally, do you agree with the idea of bringing this issue before the United Nations, na meron tayong arbitral award and then it's time to go to the UN?
11:40.2
I think it should be crafted in such a way that when we bring it up to the UN, it is more of really pointing out that the arbitral award needs to be given more teeth because of what's happening.
11:53.2
Now, I am not a lawyer. And of course, we need the advice of good people that were behind this. Like one of our people in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Henry Monsurto, who was responsible to a certain extent of how we were able to win the arbitral award.
12:09.2
Of course, we have Justice Antonio Carpio, who was also very much involved in the legal arguments on how we won the arbitral award. All of that would have to be studied. And when we bring it up to the United Nations, it is more to bring it even, to give it even more teeth in the sense that the whole world, which is already happening right now.
12:33.2
We have so much support from a lot of countries. I think it's close to over a hundred at least that are supporting us in this arbitral award. And it's good to have that kind of support coming from the international community.
13:04.2
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13:20.2
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