00:18.2
interest in China.
00:20.8
For a moment, especially
00:22.2
yung mga nakikinig sa atin, and never, Marcos,
00:24.3
I mean, we can go through a long list of your
00:26.0
dissatisfaction with BBM, okay? Gets ko yan.
00:28.4
But this issue of West Philippine Sea
00:30.3
is something very serious, right? Because in a way,
00:32.7
ang Pilipinas ay parang Berlin
00:34.2
in the 1950s. Talagang gitna
00:36.4
tayo ng dalawang higante. Obviously,
00:38.5
US is an ally, and China is a threat,
00:40.9
but the superpowers
00:42.4
are all here. Ang alam ko, lahat ng intel assets
00:44.5
nung isa, nandito na eh, di ba?
00:46.7
They're trying to fight, and of course,
00:48.4
they have their proxies. We don't even need to spell
00:50.3
this out. So, a lot is at stake
00:52.3
here, a lot of big geopolitical events, and
00:54.3
kaya nga, you go to US, tayo nag-abroad,
00:56.4
nakikita mo, they pay attention kung Pinoy ka ngayon,
00:58.4
kasi, we are a very important
01:00.4
country. But speaking
01:02.3
of that, the Philippines is also going through some
01:04.1
interesting changes in its
01:05.7
national security doctrine. I mean, we announced
01:08.3
what is it, 9 trillion
01:10.5
pesos, AFP modernization
01:12.6
act, getting submarines, etc.
01:16.6
background, you know?
01:18.0
Your dad was also Navy, right?
01:20.9
So, it makes you even more relevant
01:22.3
because a lot of this is about submarines and
01:24.2
warships, etc. First, what is your
01:26.3
take on this US-China competition part, and
01:28.3
how much the opposition should be also vigilant?
01:30.1
Na hindi ito ng drama lang dalawang
01:32.0
pamilya. This is the drama of global
01:34.2
geopolitics in the 21st century, na nakataon
01:36.5
nandito tayo sa gitna. And we also
01:38.4
have our own interests, of course, sa West Philippine Sea
01:42.7
Inevitably, the issue of ETCA. But the
01:44.5
other one also I want to ask is,
01:46.6
where do you see this issue of
01:48.1
modernization of AFP? Do you think realistically
01:50.7
we can become a force in our own
01:52.6
right? Sorry, I'm throwing
01:54.5
all of this kasi napahaba yung usapan natin
01:56.5
kanina na migraine kaya.
01:58.3
So, can we a little bit discuss about
02:00.2
the US-China aspect, and then
02:01.9
transition na tayo sa AFP and West Philippine Sea?
02:04.4
Okay. Well, let me just
02:08.4
dimension dun sa previous
02:10.4
conversation natin. The
02:12.4
geopolitical situation
02:24.6
is part of the dimension dito sa
02:29.1
ano to, rift, ano. Kaya
02:32.1
with China backing
02:34.1
the Dutertes, kasi alam nila
02:40.4
agad pagka Sarah assumes
02:42.1
as president, immediately
02:44.0
magpa-pro-China policy ka agad
02:48.0
24 hours, ihinto yung EDCA
02:50.3
and everything. Ngayon, lahat ito
02:59.9
will reclaim Taiwan or not.
03:08.3
they plan to make a move
03:10.0
within the next few years, tinitingin lang
03:11.9
by 2027. So, what
03:14.1
China is trying to prevent is
03:15.9
any possible hindrance
03:18.4
to that plan. And
03:20.0
ang hindrance dun, ang primary hindrance
03:22.3
dun would be the ability of
03:28.3
what's this, in a war,
03:33.9
Importante yung mga
03:34.8
forward operating
03:40.7
itong EDCA bases na ito,
03:42.6
can be, ano ito eh,
03:46.5
forward operating bases.
03:48.6
Once fully operational siya,
03:51.0
ngayon iniiwasan ng China yun.
03:53.8
in full swing na yung development na ito,
03:57.0
once fully operational,
03:58.3
it cannot be undone.
04:01.8
So, the time to move
04:04.7
mga panahon na yan.
04:06.8
Kaya nga itong Auster
04:10.7
against the Marcoses
04:12.2
are real and imminent.
04:14.9
Kaya yun yung nakikita kong
04:16.5
pinaghuhugutan ng lakas ng loob
04:18.8
ni Duterte. Kasi you don't just
04:20.5
do an open war like that
04:29.1
So, ngayon yun yung
04:29.9
tinitignan natin. Ngayon,
04:33.3
dito naman sa foreign policy
04:35.4
shift, actually yun yung
04:41.2
I did not expect that
04:42.8
see that coming during the elections
04:45.4
and after. So, when the president
04:47.3
officially shifted
04:49.2
back to the western allies,
04:53.5
wow, galing nun, diba?
04:57.0
tinalikuran ito. Then, ito na ngayon
05:00.5
AP modernization. Itong AP
05:02.8
modernization, talagang
05:04.7
hindi talaga tayo makakalapit
05:11.2
meron tinatawag na
05:12.5
credible defense posture.
05:15.6
Pero, tinanggal na yung minimum, diba?
05:17.5
Wala na yung minimum.
05:19.0
Credible defense tayo. So, we want to be kind of
05:20.9
middle power, kind of a
05:22.5
decent armed forces.
05:25.3
Hindi lang yung minimum lang na small power.
05:27.0
We're not poison shrimp.
05:29.3
At saka, ano kasi, kailangan natin
05:31.1
kumaga ma-break in
05:34.7
divide. Kasi, from World War II
05:37.0
vintage ships ngayon, missile
05:38.9
ships na inooperate nyo, it will take
05:40.9
a culture building
05:44.6
How to maintain those things, how to
05:46.9
operate those things, kailangan nun.
05:49.0
So, itong mga lead-in
05:53.4
or frigates that we have,
05:54.9
this will prepare us for,
05:57.0
more modern platforms
05:58.6
in the coming years.
06:01.3
Tapos, itong submarine,
06:05.1
kailangan natin talagang
06:06.4
matutong gumamit niyan.
06:09.4
And, that will also
06:11.1
force us to have yung
06:15.0
naval charts na, kasi yung
06:16.9
mga charts natin, walang
06:20.9
Maraming ma-aground diyan.
06:27.8
that, those things available
06:29.9
for us. So, itong mga
06:31.5
aircraft, yung mga lead-in fighters from
06:33.5
Korea, sasabihin nila,
06:35.5
that's no match from the 5th generation
06:37.8
fighters ng China,
06:39.9
but, it will prepare the
06:41.6
fighters, again, dun sa
06:49.4
before that, mga subsonic, ano lang tayo eh.
06:52.2
Mga Tora-Tora, kasi
06:53.5
nawala na yung mga F-5. So, kailangan
06:59.5
capacity na gano'n. Pero,
07:01.5
maganda dito sana, ang
07:03.2
na-overlook lang doon sa modernization natin,
07:07.1
explore na natin yung mga unmanned
07:09.7
systems. Symmetric drones
07:13.8
exactly, like what the,
07:15.6
you know, Ross Crane, Persian
07:17.6
Gulf, yung Iran-US, yung mga ganyan.
07:19.9
Yes, there's a lot to learn.
07:21.3
So, yan kasi, for
07:25.4
countries like us,
07:27.6
ito yung kahit papano, baka
07:29.3
mag-level ng playing field, kasi
07:31.0
hindi ito ganong kamahalan,
07:33.7
hindi rin ito, ano, but
07:35.3
ito yung technology na ngayon. Ito na yung
07:37.5
papasok yung technology.
07:39.8
Eventually, magiging,
07:41.5
ano na eh, obsolete na yung mga
07:47.4
So, ito na yung systems.
07:49.4
Kailangan na natin simulan ito
07:51.5
habang hindi pa, ano,
07:55.4
huli. So, all of these things,
07:58.4
ano naman, I think,
08:00.8
going into the right direction.
08:03.1
So, you think generally
08:05.4
we're moving in the right direction.
08:07.0
Thank you so much for that, Senator.
08:08.6
Actually, we can go on and on about this.
08:11.7
Submarines pa lang, medyo mahabang usapan
08:13.4
yan. You know, we can talk about
08:14.6
the options out there by Koreans, even
08:17.3
Italians apparently, in addition to French.
08:19.5
So, medyo technical issue yan.
08:20.7
So, ayaw kong, we can have a separate
08:22.8
one. Hopefully, we can catch up on that soon.
08:24.5
But, thank you so much,
08:26.7
Senator Trillianes. I mean, since last time
08:28.4
we discussed, I'm glad to see
08:30.2
medyo maaliwalas na yung mga
08:32.2
kasama natin. Those were the days.
08:34.4
They were very, very difficult.
08:35.5
I was still a little overweight that time.
08:37.0
Tapos, I gained weight. I mean, I look at
08:39.1
totally different guys. So,
08:41.2
those were not easy days for a lot of us
08:43.5
who cared about the Philippines, cared about
08:45.2
the West Philippines. We cared about the lives of
08:47.0
Filipino people, cared about the dignity
08:49.5
of our nation. So, I'm glad that we're
08:51.4
moving in a lot of direction. And thank you,
08:53.1
Senator Trillianes, for this,
08:54.5
very honest conversation about,
08:56.5
you know, it's not about choosing
08:57.8
between greater evil and lesser evil.
09:00.5
It's not about having popcorns. It's about
09:02.4
understanding that there are orders of magnitude
09:04.2
of difference in terms of the threats to
09:06.4
the constitutional order and the democracy we're
09:08.3
facing. But ako, I really appreciated
09:10.2
this emphasis na, eye on the ball
09:12.0
2028. But also, don't forget, baka 2025
09:14.3
pa lang, big moves could happen.
09:17.0
Thank you so much, Senator Trillianes.
09:18.6
I know there's more we can discuss, but I'd rather
09:20.6
keep it for future episodes.
09:23.1
I think one and a half hour na,
09:24.5
just like that. Because I'm sure
09:26.4
there'll be more drama and
09:28.2
bardagulan and plot twists as we get near
09:30.4
to 2025 elections. Thank you, Senator,
09:32.5
for sharing your views. Is there
09:34.6
anything you want to share on the record? We can
09:36.6
have a discussion off the record later on
09:38.3
before we wrap up this
09:40.5
very interesting discussion.
09:42.3
Well, thank you very much, Richard, for
09:44.5
inviting me, finally, to your program.
09:48.0
We'll be looking forward to more discussions
09:50.5
with you. Of course. Busy rin kayo.
09:52.9
And of course, I think a
09:54.5
lot of people have had the pleasure of also catching
09:56.4
you on Christian's show, the other
09:58.6
great political podcast. So I'm glad
10:00.5
na medyo active na rin kami ngayon sa
10:02.4
YouTube, hindi lang yung mga... Alam mo na,
10:04.7
di ba? So hopefully we'll have more of you.
10:06.8
Si Ronald Llamas, ginawa ko ng
10:08.3
co-host. May R&R na kami. So baka
10:10.4
next time, mag-RR, mag-RRT
10:14.8
Mag-treesome tayo ng analysis.
10:17.0
Thank you very much, Senator, and talk to you
10:18.6
soon. Thank you. God bless. Thank you.
