The
Philippines had asked Washington for help in building a "minimum credible
defense" amid an escalating territorial dispute with China as reported by AFP News last Monday.
Philippine
Foreign Secretary Alberto del Rosario and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin
accurately described the poor state of the Philippine armed forces as Hillary
Clinton and Leon Panetta listened across the table.
Del Rosario
cited how the international news media has accurately described the poor state
of the Philippine armed forces; whereas, Gazmin alluded to tension with China
over islands in the South China Sea as he called for the need to
"intensify our mutual trust to uphold maritime security and the freedom of
navigation."
A couple of days later, the United
States officially assured the Philippines of assistance in maritime security and
stressed its preference for a multilateral and “collaborative” approach to
solving territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.
The US
assurance was contained in a joint statement issued after a meeting Monday
between US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta and Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario and Defense Secretary
Voltaire Gazmin.
The two
countries also stressed the importance of their Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) but
kept quiet on whether the 1951 pact obliged the US to come to the aid of its
ally in case shooting broke out at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.
In their
joint statement, the Philippines and the US agreed that their respective
military forces should be prepared to respond quickly and effectively to any
contingencies that may arise in the region.
They also
agreed to jointly explore how to strengthen the defense capabilities of the
Philippines to achieve a credible defense posture and to cooperate in building
the Philippines’ maritime security capabilities and strengthening its maritime
domain awareness.
“To that end,
the United States intends to transfer a second High Endurance cutter to the
Philippines this year,” the statement said.
The timing of
the Philippines' request for military assistance from the United States may not
be so auspicious, considering the fact that Washington is coping with even more
critical economic and political issues in both its domestic and international
fronts.
Nevertheless,
it brings to mind a similar appeal to Washington made by then President Manuel Quezon during the 1930s.
On February
19, 1937, had the U.S. Charge d'Affaires in London, Ray Atherton, not
discovered the nature of the clandestine meeting that was to be held between
President Manuel Quezon and the British Foreign Minister, Anthony Eden, the
Filipinos would have been belting out "God Save the Queen instead of
humming Yankee doodle de dum tunes at major local gatherings.
Two years
prior to this discovery, making good on his infamous sound bite, "I would
rather have a government run like hell by Filipinos than a government run like
heaven by Americans," Quezon -- upon assuming the presidency of the
Commonwealth of the Philippines -- immediately pursued the task of laying the
foundations of the future Philippine Republic.
However, the
relations between Quezon and his American overlords during the transition
period were often less than amenable; the resulting tensions and exasperations
eventually prompted Quezon to secretly approach the British and explore the
likelihood of the Philippines becoming a part of the British Empire -- as a
self-governing dominion, like Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
As early as
August 1933, then Senate President Quezon had already told his British friend
and adviser, Frank Hodsoll, that should the United States abandon their
protectorate interests in the Philippines, he would go to London, and on behalf
of the 14,000,000 Filipinos, ask for admission to the British Commonwealth of
Nations. Hodsoll, acting as Quezon's secret liaison agent, finally contacted
top British officials on January 20, 1935.
At this time,
Quezon was already coping with serious concerns about the threat of a Japanese
invasion. He was also alarmed by the Americans' continued indifference on the
issue, as well as their lackadaisical attitude toward strengthening the
military defenses of the Philippines.
The British
Foreign Office recognized the merits of Quezon's concerns and approved holding
official, though initially clandestine, talks with Quezon. Unfortunately, the
Americans got wind of the planned meeting in London. President Roosevelt and
many high-ranking government officials were aghast; thus, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Francis B. Sayre immediately censured Quezon as per orders
received from Washington.
In his
response, Quezon riposted that for the survival of the Philippines, it was his
duty to seek protection from another powerful nation; that is, if the United
States were unable to provide it. He then pointed out the lack of palpable
measures by the United States to fortify the archipelago and make her
impregnable to a Japanese invasion.
Quezon also
admitted that he would consider a treaty of amity and alliance with Japan if
the United States and Great Britain refused to protect his country.
Ironically,
despite their horrified reaction to Quezon's seemingly lack of loyalty, the
United States' war plans from 1937 onward, prioritized winning the war in
Europe. Essentially, America was prepared to accept the initial fall of Guam,
Hawaii, and the Philippines to Japan. Such priority was mainly due to the fact
that the American oligarchy at that time was mostly of European ancestry.
Therefore, the Philippines was merely regarded as a not too significant a
territory located in some far-flung remote region across the Pacific.
Furthermore,
the U.S. did not appear to be in any position to guarantee, let alone provide,
formidable military defense systems and logistics for the Philippines. This was
made apparent when the American contingent at the 1941 secret Japan-US
diplomatic negotiations began to consider permanently declaring the Philippines
as a neutral country. Regrettably, diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Japan
came to a sudden halt when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
These days,
local historians could only speculate that perhaps, the eventual massive
carpet-bombing of Manila by the U.S. forces during its liberation, might have
been America's ultimate true response to Quezon's disloyalty, though his death
saved him from seeing the city -- the seat of his government -- practically
reduced to rubble.
Title: View
of burnt-out Manila, 1945
Date:
1945-03-12
Place/Time:
Post-war commonwealth / Philippines / Manila
Publisher: US
Signal Corps
Description:
Vividly illustrating the condition of burned-out, battle-scarred Manila, as
U.S. engineers and thousands of Filipinos begin the huge task of
reconstruction, is this aerial view looking southwest across the Pasig River
toward hulks of sunken ships in the harbor. Tall building, left foreground, is
gutted, Eastern Hotel, center, across river, is burned out, general post
office, extreme left, across river is Metropolitan Opera House in ruins.
Battered wall of Intramuros, Walled City, and destroyed buildings inside,
occupies rectangular area beyond post office. Left is demolished Santa Cruz
Bridge, repaired by Army engineers. The streets have already been cleared of
rubble.
Rights: U.S.
National Archives
Submitter:
McCoy, Alfred W.: University of Wisconsin--Madison.
Center for Southeast Asian
Studies.
Local
Identifier: SEAiT.Philippines.ph00835.bib
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