THE SENTINELS OF SPRATLYS:

Immolation Versus Treason

By Ma. Linda O. Montayre

When the NBN-ZTE deal slithered into the sidelines, the sellout of our Spratly Islands began to hug the headlines. After the gargantuan corruption of the broadband deal as exposed by Joey de Venecia and Jun Lozada, another crime by the same principal culprit emerged, this time TREASON by the Commander In Chief.

This treason involved the sell out by our national officials of the very borders of our country, particularly our claim to the Spratlys. Malacañang was so afraid Filipinos would denounce and reject even more Gloria Arroyo’s governance if they found out she had committed a more serious offense of treason against the Filipino people. Thus very suddenly the January-February 2008 issue of the Far Eastern Economic Review where Barry Wain wrote about the “Treason by the Commander In Chief” was pulled out from our newsstands and bookstores. But the truth could not be hidden and the facts began to emerge. Clearly Gloria Arroyo for reasons of immoderate greed worth about $8B, had once again entered into a transaction with other countries particularly China which was inimical to the interests of our country.

The Joint Seismic Marine Undertaking (JSMU) signed by Gloria Arroyo with China then Vietnam was an infringement on our sovereignty as a country and violated the provisions of our Constitution. Our 1987 Constitution says that the State shall have the exclusive power of exploration, development and utilization of our natural resources. The State may do so with private corporations but these should be Filipino corporations and it must inform Congress within 30 days from the signing of the said contract. Of course these were not all followed by Gloria Arroyo.

The signing of the JSMU has almost negated what Adm. Tomas Cloma declared in 1956 that Spratlys belongs to the Philippines and which was later validated by Ferdinand Marcos when he annexed 57 Spratly islands to the province of Palawan in 1971. Worse, it ran counter to the November 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea which we signed with other ASEAN countries. It was an Agreement we had with ASEAN to act as a bloc in dealing with China so we could deal better with the latter especially in mutually respecting the different claims of the other countries with regard to Spratlys. This is ironic because it was the Philippines that loudly howled a protest when China constructed several structures in Mischief Reef in 1995 and because of which the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties was agreed upon. Even UNCLOS or the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea which was convened in 1982 to determine the international sea boundaries had already affirmed that a country can extend its claims up to 200 nautical miles from its land borders and thus the Philippine claim to the Spratlys is within such stipulation while that of China or Vietnam is not inasmuch as they are about 1000 nautical miles from the Spratlys. But in signing the JSMU the Philippines suddenly gave breathtaking concessions and validity to what was previously considered a spurious claim of China in the Spratlys or the South China Sea. The JSMU also allowed China and Vietnam into our very own continental shelf which was not even being claimed by said countries.

Thus with one stroke of the pen Gloria Arroyo has greatly weakened our claim to the Spratlys in the same manner that she has weakened our democratic institutions. She has practically waived away our firm and strong assertion of our sovereignty. What decades of Filipino leaders had nurtured and maintained has given way to this Spratly transaction by Gloria Arroyo that has serious and far reaching implications not only on our sovereignty but also on our oil and gas claim in the area which has great potentials for our future economically with the way energy particularly its supply and price, is becoming a problem to the whole world. This will also negatively impact on our 1976 discovery of oil off the coast of Palawan which now accounts for about 15% of all petroleum consumed in the Philippines.

By not consulting the ASEAN Gloria Arroyo has also broken ranks with our regional neighbors and practically abandoned our collective stance with ASEAN in strongly dealing with this problem vis-à-vis China’s claim on the South China Sea especially in view or our weak military forces and equally frail economy. Because of Gloria Arroyo’s personal interest in the JSMU she has allowed China to break the ASEAN’s collective posture versus the China claim just like the way she has divided our nation. China today can now deal with the different nations with claims to the Spratlys on an individual basis because Gloria Arroyo broke its pact with ASEAN by dealing with China singly.

It was not only with ASEAN that Gloria Arroyo did not honor our commitment with another country. In 1947 we had signed a Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States. Included in this agreement was the mutual pledge of both countries not to sign any agreement with a communist country without the knowledge or consent of the other. And yet, even the United States was sidelined by the JSMU. If Gloria was intent on being nasty to the US she could have moved for the abrogation of the treat first.

Most of all in one blow she has shattered into smithereens the sacrifice and hardships, the pains and brutal clash with nature that our soldiers who have patrolled and protected the Spratlys for almost five decades now have undergone. How can she face them today, the soldiers and officers of the AFP - she with her Treason and they who with their lives of Immolation have protected the Spratlys year after year after year for the Philippines and the Filipinos, for our posterity. Or how can our men in uniform serve a Commander in Chief whose actions ran counter to what they have been taught to respect, protect and defend with their lives?

With the claim made by the Philippines on the Spratlys in the 1950’s it had to show it was manning or occupying said “feature” by building structures, showing economic activity, manning a ship in the area or by stationing soldiers. Thus a look back into the 1970’s show young marines were already being missioned to the Kalayaan Islands. They would be sent in squads or groups of 10 to 15 to spend at least six months in the Spratlys but which would usually be extended to about eight whole months before they would be fetched back by the ship that brought them.

The stories of our marines are simple but the rawness of the kind of military service that have been asked of them over time speak of their mute but straightforward love for our country. Just take a look at some of their tales… On a dark and windy evening in December a group of marines sailed to what they believed was the ends of the world, to the Spratly Islands that seemed forsaken by both man and beast. They had to dock a good two or three kilometers from the Spratly island they were sent to where the only available dry land was less than a half-hectare. They had to carry everything on their backs, heavy loads all at one time as the ship that had brought them would not wait till sundown so back and forth, back and forth, they carried all their wares to ensure they would have enough supplies until the same ship fetched them after eight months. Everything else as far as the eye could see was water. Water, water, sea water, everywhere. No trees, not even a single leaf in sight.

There were about fifteen of them and their team commander was a young, tall, dark, and rugged Marine. Most of them were bachelors, in their twenties or thirties but a few were in their fifties. One of them brought books on law and the punitive articles of the military to read and study while they were out in the sea. Home was a small nipa-mangrove shack atop several drums tied up together that was under water whenever the tide rose. When this happened they had to transfer or shift their homes and look for drier places which at times was a strip of sand and which in essence remained wet all the time. Most of their time was spent in relocating their home. Thus most of the time too they were at sea or submerged in water but under the sweltering heat of the sun. For clothing they wore plastic shorts which they were able to wash only when it rained. Day after day after day, this was their life, to fulfill their mission and for love of Mother Philippines.

If there was a storm they kissed their families goodbye in their dreams or in their worst nightmares. Once there was a very strong typhoon and for seventeen whole days they struggled to keep themselves afloat by tying ropes around their waists and tying the rope to the monument built by the Malaysians. God bless the Malaysians for this at least. Every time they moved they were almost swept away. During this time they almost all drowned as a squad. But not to be tied with the others would mean being swept by the strong currents to the nearby islands manned by the Vietnamese. All they had were carried away by the winds or the waves including all their guns and their lone guitar. They had no food left except the fish that swam under them, including the sharks. The reconnaissance plane that looked for them could not even spot them because the waves were so white. They were given up for dead almost. And when they were found many of them were not even given the “Loneliness Pay” that was supposed to be given them and instead they were sent to another mission, in the hinterlands of Mindanao, to fight with the insurgents without benefit of rest or recreation.

Sometimes a soldier would ask his team leader permission to go to a night club in Makati while in the midst of the Spratly Islands. When this happened the officer in charge knew his team member was at the point of a nervous breakdown and he would thus engage the latter in guidance and counseling or try to rehabilitate him. They would play cards most of the time or sing soulful songs to one another or whisper melodies to the wind hoping it will reach their loved ones. At other times when a soldier would die the team leader and squad members would bury him in the only dry spot in the area, knowing he would be swept by the waters sooner or later. It would be a terrible day for the team leader with his conscience bothering him realizing that he was not able to take good care of his men. He would dread facing the dead soldier’s family who had sacrificed months and years of their beloved’s presence waiting for his homecoming so he could play with his children who were babies or toddlers when he left but were now teenagers who at times were alienated from him.

Patrolling the Spratly Islands was a round the clock mission. Those who had been assigned were re-assigned and re-re-assigned to the islands year after year. The Army was missioned to the Spratlys for a start but shortly after it was the Marines that stayed on for decades. During the time of Erap it was the Navy that guarded the Spratlys.

Those of our men in uniform who have spent years in the Kalayaan Islands, in that God-forsaken area knowing that they were giving their lives for the mission tasked them knew that they were also doing so to protect our territories and to keep foreign aggressors out of the borders of our country. That is why many of them say today – “Masakit para sa amin na basta lang pinapasok ni Gloria Arroyo ang China pagkatapos naming ialay halos buhay namin para manatili lamang ang Spratlys sa Pilipinas. Alam rin kasi namin na makakatulong ng malaki sa bansa ang gas at ibang natural resources na nandodoon”.

Today it is deeply unsettling to hear that a Commander In Chief, illegitimate as she is, has traded our sovereignty particularly in the Spratlys, for so many pieces of silver clearly committing TREASON with a capital T. Our soldiers, the marines especially, have immolated their lives for so long a time now, for the Spratlys, for sovereignty and for our motherland. Surely we cannot allow anyone, not even the highest official in the land, to treat so lightly or cavalierly our sovereignty and the sacrifices of our lowly soldiers. Indeed how many of us have sacrificed for our country in this manner. Not Gloria. Not our traditional politicians. Not even the CBCP. Can we not appreciate and stand by the sincerity of this group of uniformed men who year in and year out, in the silence of their hearts and in the stillness of their surroundings, have guarded our shores, our patrimony, our posterity, for our very future?

What do we justify – IMMOLATION OR TREASON?

Ma. Linda O. Montayre is one of the convenors of FDNR, Filipino Democratic Nationalist Reform Movement and the Secretary General of People’s Consultative Assembly or PCA.