Overview Of The Domestic Politics Of Philippines And Its Harsh Relationship With China

The news of the budding friendship of our country with China has sparked several controversies and protests especially after the dispute over the West Philippine Sea last 2016. The citizens of the Philippines believe that our country is setting itself up for trouble for building a friendship with China as it is not a secret to everyone that the other country has been trying to reclaim their power back over the West Philippine Sea.

Because our president is trying to build a rapport with China, our fellow Filipinos’ welfare is put aside which poses as a threat to our society. As of this year, the discord between the two opposing countries blew up after the sinking of a Filipino boat by a Chinese fishing vessel. This even left 22 fishermen from our country at sea until a Vietnamese boat rescued them. This occurrence led the Philippine government to protest against the president’s decision to downplay it as a normal mishap at sea. And although this may seem like a very simple conflict, contrary to what we were told, this strife stems from an even bigger problem which is the lack of knowledge and nationalism amongst us.

The greater number of Filipinos who turn a blind eye to China’s misdemeanor are lacking further knowledge about the said incident as they choose to believe only what is shown on their screens despite the victims and protestants’ continuous resistance. Because of China’s overwhelming military strength, President Duterte is determined to cultivate a bond with them as a strategic plan and survival tactic, however; this has affected the livelihood of our fishermen in the West Philippine Sea. We are all trying to avoid creating tension between the two countries that we pay no attention to the wellbeing of our fellow countrymen who have been abused by the Chinese. We choose to argue with the people who believe that we should take a stand against the aggressive demeanor of the Chinese towards us and we turn a blind eye and let our oppressors take advantage of our survival instinct.

This is all the result of the repetition of history, remember how some, but not all, Filipinos from the cabinet of Aguinaldo were veering to the idea of surrendering under the power of the Americans? If we think about it, several Filipino government officials, who supports the friendship with China, could be compared to the members of the Aguinaldo cabinet who wanted to be part of America. We cannot deny that most are too busy with their own agendas that they have forgotten what is the greater good for our country. Do we remember who took a stand and fought to protect our country’s freedom? It was General Antonio Luna who died fighting to protect our freedom to live in our own terms and not under the power of foreigners (Luga, 2015). This act could be compared to the brave protestants who are willing to die for their country’s freedom from the subtle and hidden oppression of China.

However, there can never be just one side to this argument. It has been a continuous debate on whether we should accept and take advantage of the friendship between the Philippines and China or should we reject this and just play the hand we’re dealt with once tension arises between the two countries? Choosing either one of the two can affect us dearly be it negative or positive, there is no area of agreement. This acts as an indication that our country will continue to repeat history for as long as we are apathetic, divided and distracted by our personal agendas.