June 12 is Araw ng Kalayaan

By: Joe Mauricio

 

General Emilio Aguinaldo, an imperfect but reverent Filipino statesman and the fi rst President of the Philippines, is the Philippines’ foremost Founding Father, partly because he was so wont toward painful self-refl ections about the fi ght for an independence for the Filipino people. He believed we would celebrate our independence every June 12th, as he historically proclaimed in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898. This was the day that he proclaimed “Araw ng Kalayaan”, our independence day from the hands of the Spanish conquerors of our land. Let’s always use the name “Kalayaan” that reminds us what this holiday freedom celebrates.

“Mabuhay ang Araw ng Kalayaan!” “Long Live our Freedom (Kalayaan) or Independence (Kasarinlan)!” You don’t truly embrace freedom unless you embrace those beautiful words. You don’t truly embrace the freedom for yourself unless you also embrace it for others. That’s more diffi cult to understand than it sounds, because oftentimes others may not share your judgment for how they should lead their lives, and vice versa. At times, we value their freedom to be wrong more than we value our conviction that we are right.

But let us remember that with all our modern fl aws as an independent nation for 122 years, we still are the Pearl of the Orient Seas, a hope for the underserved, rooted in ancient tribal and religious identities. It is not that the Philippines is innocent of atrocities or bigotry of any kind since its declaration of independence. The Philippines has evolved as an independent nation. We are not just lovers of beauty contests and other world titles, we are not just memes of Hollywood celebrities. We are a truly freedom- loving people who value our independence and brave enough to fi ght any atrocities of any conquerors of any invading land.

Independence Day is worthy of our celebration for our beautiful heritage and for our historical fi ght for our freedom and our nationalistic cause. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!

THE RETURN OF US NAVY TO SUBIC BAY

The United States Navy is planning to return to its former base in the Philippines under a commercial deal. After an American equity fi rm and Australian shipbuilder expressed interest in taking over the Subic shipyard from a bankrupt South Korean company. The two companies are in the fi nal stages of negotiations with the Philippine government and several banks to take over the operations of Hanjin. The companies intend to invest $2 billions and employ over 30,000 Filipino work force plus collateral benefi ts for income sources to the area.

Australian shipbuilder Austal Ltd. has won a contract to deliver six offshore patrol vessels for the Philippine Navy, while US private equity Cerberus will operate the other half of Hanjin’s facility for shop repair. They were to complete due diligence and fi nal negotiations before the outbreak of Covid-19.

It could take more than a year before the shipyard could become operational under the new owners. The facilities would be repurposed from producing huge civilian super-tankers to warships.

Cerberus, a shipbuilding American company is the mother company of Dyna Corporation, a large private contractor of the U.S. Navy, serving U.S. warships and building facilities at U.S. Naval bases. The U.S. Navy plans to move back to its old facilities in Subic if the deal goes through. Subic Bay offers an ideal strategic location with cheaper skilled Filipino labor.

American and Australian companies would like the Philippine Navy to set up a naval base in Subic. The two companies are also interested in two islands in Subic that Chinese companies had earlier planned to lease and convert into tourism areas.

The Chinese companies had signed an agreement in April 2019 during President Duterte’s visit to China for the lease of the two islands in the Philippines, but that deal was blocked by the Philippine Navy.

This is a good move for the Philippines, gaining more allies in South China Sea, but the worse scenario for China.

The Philippine government tried doing bilateral talks with China, but the latter is still busy bullying the U.S. in the current Cold War. Meantime, more countries are warming up to the U.S. while turning their backs on China.