read it and weep. http://www.gov.ph/2014/04/29/document-enhanced-defense-cooperation-agreement/ like gina apostol says on facebook, article 3 gives everything away. nakakapanghina. nakakapanlumo. nakakadesespera. how we wasted the two decades since we kicked out the u.s. bases. by now we should could have gotten wiser, smarter, about how to deal with america, even if only in terms of getting a fair deal and a little more respect at last.
after having read it, i wonder what is this “everything” that was given away? for this everything, what would have been a proper exchange, in your opinion?
to be clear: i think art 3 says that, upon mutual agreement, the us military are allowed to do a list of things in places where both parties agree to do it. is that the extent of “everything”?
di na nag-iisip ang mga senador tungkol sa philippine defense strategy, o ang pagdagsa ng amerikanong puersa dito sa pilipinas. Ma nakatuon sa mga senador ang pagkamal ng pera o ang pagiwas sa pagiwas sa pananagutan tungkol sa paggamit ng pork barrel.
For a whole slew of reasons our armed forces are still not in a position to defend the country against aggression hence the government found it necessary to enter into a defense arrangement with our former colonist, bitter as it may be for us.
Under the current reality of our defense capability, what other option does the government have, what is the nationalist’s alternative?
my question is, why bitter? Do we really want to spend more money on weapons and other materiel? isnt it a good thing to have defense support so we dont need to spend all that money ourselves?