The President and the Peacekeepers

By: Bob Boyer

 

September was a big news month for the Philippines, reflected in two of my favorite sources, “The New York Times” and “The Philippine Inquirer” on-line edition. First came the news of an attack by Syrian insurgents against forty Filipino UN Peacekeepers in late August. This attack was one of the reasons that prompted the subsequent withdrawal of all 300 of the Philippine Peacekeepers. At about the same time President Aquino made that announcement, he shared his most recent thoughts about negotiating with China regarding the South China Sea. Peacekeepers Going Home (Proudly):

The Peacekeepers’ story began in late August when a platoon of Filipino soldiers was surrounded on a hill in the Golan Heights by Syrian insurgents. The insurgents were members of an Al Qaeda group called the Nusra Front, one of the more radical factions fighting to topple the Syrian Government. The Filipinos were part of about 1200 soldiers from six different countries currently supporting the United Nations “four-decade-old” (NYT, Sept. 24) peacekeeping operation on the border between Syria and Israel. So the civil war in Syria was spilling over into the Arab-Israeli conflict, and the Filipino soldiers looked like they would become the victims. Except that they didn’t. The insurgents demanded that the Filipinos surrender and turn over their weapons, which are what they really wanted. They had already made the same demand of forty-five Fijian Peacekeepers, who had complied. The Filipinos refused to surrender or give up their weapons. They were, according to the “Inquirer” (Aug. 30), heavily armed and ready to fight. The insurgents backed away. The Filipinos marched down the mountain victoriously. The Fijians later were released by the insurgents, minus their weapons. Being a fan of the Philippines, I was happy about the safety of the Filipino soldiers and proud of their courage. The courage did not surprise me, of course. History has recorded it in the past, and the 2014 Filipino UN Peacekeepers faced down their foe, and their commander recounted the adventure with considerable relish. I hasten to add, coming from pacifist Quaker stock, that I am doubly happy that no shots were fired.

President Aquino and the Inscrutable Chinese:

President Aquino was interviewed by the NYT about both the withdrawal of the AFP Peacekeepers and the tensions between the Philippines and China over territorial rights in the South China Sea. Mr. Aquino, it seems, was something of a star for the press when he attended the United Nations Climate Summit in New York the week of September 21. The article about the tensions, while it provides some interesting insights, gives the impression that the tensions are of quite recent origins, within the past two years. In fact the Philippines and China have been arguing and sometimes threatening each other for much longer over territorial rights to groups of island in the South China Sea. In 1998, when I taught at the University of the Philippines, the friction was much in the news, especially regarding the Spratly Islands. It seemed, at that time at least, that there were major oil deposits in the area. The ante has been upped, of course, in more recent years as the Philippines and the U.S. have renewed and strengthened their commitments as allies. The insights that the article provides are much more interesting. Mr. Aquino, the article concludes, is frankly mystified by China. Trade is increasing, promoted enthusiastically on both sides, he says, but China has a travel advisory against its people visiting the Philippines. “We will confess we don’t understand some of the messages sometimes,” says President Aquino. Also, China was beaten at its own game, the article implies, when China claimed that “maps from dynasties past” support its claims in the Spratlys. The Philippines, however, promptly produced “its own maps, some dating from the 12th century” that refuted China’s claim. The Philippines also has a long and well-documented history, considerable portions with China. Contact Bob Boyer at Robert.boyer@snc.edu or www.anamericaninmanila. com