Phillipines Situation

This is a very interesting opinion article in the Philstar.com on weighing the effects of the Phillipines decision to agree with the terrorists' terms and free the hostage. It goes in depth on the US-Phillipine connection, how they are falling behind in their economic effforts as compared to China and also goes into the potential future effects of their decision to free their hostage.

Not counting the cost?

Good article. Makes you wonder what people of other nations that currently live to bash the USA would think if someone took the time to note what the US does for them.

Actually, on second thought, it would probably make no difference. (sigh)

The Manila Times seems critical. We can sit back and judged all we want, but what do the Philippine people think? Do they support the decision? I can't read tagalog, so I don't know the whole story, I have just been reading the english philippine papers online. Are there any Filipinos that can give us the vibe of the populance?

The decision seems to hae alot of popular support. There are qute a few Phillipinos at work, and they all seemed to be excited by it. The president was looking at the next election IMHO, not the long term issues assosiated with caving in to terrorism. It may not occur for a while, but the Phillipines may find themselves painted into a corner......

As I read the opinion , it appeared to me that the writer was even unsure on how the Phillipines should take its course. It seems to be a major struggle between their feelings and the reality of their situation. It seems that they were spoiled by our monetary support and failed to grow more independent economically, all the while their political views grew more and more against our country. They also have a big terror problem , which leads me to believe that like the US, there are the haves and there are the have nots, and the "have nots" are trying anything to be heard and acknowledged.

Remember we used to have bases in the P.I. and left there at the country's request. They want to be able to stand alone but don't want to put forth the effort to stop suckling the US teat.

It is a troubled situation they are dealing with, one that I do not envy.

Publicly, a lot of Filipinos support their government's decision.


Personally, I think it's their right as a nation to have made this decision. They were pulling their troops out in 30 days anyway, and let me ask you this question:


Isn't what they are doing exactly the same as the US has done in the past? They are pretty much saying that the life of a Filipino is more important to them than the life of a foreigner (as in, "Yes, we realize that acceding to the wishes of these terrorists might put others in danger in the future, but we are trying to protect our OWN PEOPLE here".)

Again, they are their own country, they can make decisions that further their own personal agendas. It's the way things work.

Now do I think it's RIGHT? I don't know. I don't think so, but who knows what would have been the consequence if they said NO. We'll never know.