By Herbert Vego
“CHINA is a sleeping giant.”
Hearing that statement from Prof. Leticia Dava in our Political Science class at the MLQ University in 1967, I knew she was pinpointing at the “backward” economy of the giant hotbed of communism.
That opinion does not count anymore. What resonates in my mind today is a warning uttered by Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the French military leader and emperor who conquered much of Europe in the early 19th century.
“Let China sleep,” Napoleon had said. “For when she wakes, she will shake the world.”
How prophetic! Two centuries later today, China has wakened and is now shaking the world in her ambition to supersede the United States as the most powerful nation, economically and geopolitically.
It is no secret that made-in-China products, including cheap replicas of the US originals, are flooding the whole world.
Ironically, the US and European countries themselves have helped build China by building factories thereat to take advantage of cheap Chinese wages.
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) — her ongoing, ambitious program to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks – is widely perceived as a challenge to US territorial hegemony.
The growing Chinese military presence in the South China Sea – including the West Philippine Sea within 200 nautical miles of our shoreline – has been tagged as a “flashpoint” that could trigger war with the US, which has kept its Seventh Fleet on constant sea patrol there.
For a decade already, unmindful of the International Arbitral Court’s 2016 decision invalidating her nine-dash-line claim over the South China Sea, China has taken effective control of Scarborough Shoal, which used to be a rich fishing ground for Filipino fishermen.
President Duterte, unfortunately, has described himself “inutile” or incapable of contesting China’s build-up of artificial islands on seven coral reefs in the Spratly Islands, which are also claimed by Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei.
And with US President Donald Trump moving out of the White House two days from now (Jan. 20), we may have reasons to fear likelihood of incoming President Joe Biden biding his time before pulling American forces out of the West Philippine Sea.
President Trump tried to paint Democrat candidate Joe Biden as “soft on China” because his son Hunter was allegedly doing business with a Chinese corporation.
On the positive side in our favor, however, Biden as the US vice-president during the Obama administration (2009 to 2017) had described Beijing’s behavior in the maritime disputes as “dangerous and provocative.”
But then, it would take more than words to scare Xi Jin Ping.
WHY MOST FILIPINOS DON’T WANT CHINESE VACCINES
To be or not to be vaccinated?
It looks like most Filipinos have already imbibed the propaganda that only a vaccine could prevent us from catching COVID-19.
However, they are not keen on heeding President Duterte’s advice to get jabbed with Sinovac, coming soon from China.
It’s primarily because of our distrust in what has already been touted as “expensive but with only 50% efficacy and 73 side effects”.
The prevailing opinion is that some enterprising government officials don’t care as long as they stand to profit under the table from 25 million doses. Sinovac, according to Sen. Sonny Angara, costs “PHP3,600 per 2 jabs”.
Compare that to United Kingdom’s AstraZeneca which is priced at PHP610 for the same two doses.
Personally, I believe that God has imbued us with an immune system which, given the proper nourishment, is strong enough to beat whatever virus. Otherwise, we could not have survived the past 10 months, counting from the day when the first COVID case from Wuhan, China landed in Manila.
To reiterate what I have been saying here, out of our population of 110 million, 498,691 Filipinos have turned out COVID-positive as of yesterday, of which only 9,884 have died. The figures seem scary, but not when viewed from the perspective of the National Statistics Office: No less than 1,500 Filipinos die daily – yes, each day – of other diseases and causes.
My opposition to Chinese vaccine also hinges on propriety. Why patronize this bully state that has already encroached our islands at the West Philippine Sea?
Whether or not China intentionally “formulated” the coronavirus to wreck the US, UK, Australia and other economies, including the Philippines, it does not make sense further enriching the Chinese Communist Party by importing Chinese vaccines.
Should China not have offered reparations instead for damages resulting from COVID-19 infestations?
Our right response is to reject China vaccines.
IMEE’S ‘ASIAN FACTOR’ FOR VACCINE SAFETY
SENATOR Imee Marcos has urged the government to consider the “Asian factor” in choosing the safest vaccines for Filipinos. Simply put, she is batting for Asian participation in efficacy trials aimed at choosing the safest vaccines.
That also takes into account the vaccine cost, cold storage requirements, ease of use, and media hype.
In a press statement, Marcos pointed out that three leading vaccine candidates that got emergency use authorization (EUA) in Western countries had conducted trials with only five percent of Asian participants.
The lack of a clearer breakdown of various Asian ethnicities in vaccine trials has also led health experts in India to call for greater participation of its ethnically diverse groups before granting a EUA for Western-made vaccines.
“Vaccines may actually be customized in the future,” Marcos cited a study published in December by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
SKIP THE QUEUE AND STAY SAFE AT HOME
THE rains have come. Housewives would naturally wish to accomplish obligations without leaving home to line up and pay bills.
Their wish has come true as far as paying electricity bills to MORE Power in Iloilo City is concerned. They may opt to pay online through Banco de Oro (BDO).
Just go to https://online.bdo.com.ph or log in to the BDO Digital Banking App.
Any other concerns or queries – say, on delayed delivery of bills — may be directly addressed via messaging to the distribution utility through the Facebook account of MORE Power Iloilo. The account, which also announces the occurrence of scheduled and non-scheduled brownouts, is on 24-hour service.
One question that reached online was why the Mandurriao and Jaro districts blacked out on January 13.
It happened when a stray cat jumped over the 13.8 kV circuit breaker primary bushing, blowing it up and fatally electrocuting the cat.
To re-energize, the Jaro substation had to temporarily tie up to a feeder of the Lapaz substation.
MORE Power President Roel Z. Castro has assured this corner of the company’s three-year timetable to modernize on a budget of PHP1.9-billion.
Why not? The company has 25 years to serve its franchise, which could be renewed on good performance.
