Toothless over Spratlys

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

After the airstrip that was built on the disputed island, called Ligao by Filipinos and Taiping by the Taiwanese, was inaugurated by no less than the president of Taiwan , Chen Shui-bian, last Saturday, all the Philippine government could do was howl in protest.

Ligao Island is part of the controversial Spratlys island chain, an area believed to be abundant in oil, natural gas, and marine resources that are simultaneously being claimed by Brunei , China , Malaysia , Vietnam , Taiwan , and the Philippines . Aside from its natural resources, its location of straddling one of the busiest shipping lanes in the region makes the Spratlys a strategically enticing piece of property. The claimants have resolved to settle this dispute peacefully by maintaining the status quo pending the resolution of the claims.

Now that the Taiwanese leader has ruffled the feathers of the claimant nations by building and personally inaugurating a runway, we can only expect things to get worse if the other countries also decide to follow his lead and start building installations even if the claims over the disputed islands have not yet been properly resolved. If and when this happens, the Philippines , which has a rightful claim to these islands but lacks the military might to back up these claims, will become the biggest loser when push comes to shove.

With an antiquated navy and a non-existent air force that obviously do not stand a chance against their counterparts from the other countries who are squabbling over the Spratlys, all the Filipino government can do is resort to diplomatic protests and hope for the best. Let us just hope that in a worst-case scenario, where protests alone are ineffective and we do lose the Spratlys to the other claimants, that the countries who were able to grab those disputed territories, without encountering any kind of meaningful resistance from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, do not get any funny ideas and start to train their sights on other Philippine Islands.*