Still the neighborhood bully

Once again, China has slammed the Philippines for bringing the problem of its territorial claims over the West Philippine Sea to international arbitration. The Chinese government claims that the case filed by the Philippines was cunningly crafted to “fabricate a basis for arbitral proceedings.” In short, it is not pleased at all that we are trying to assert our rights to the area that history has always regarded as ours.

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No wonder no less than former President Fidel Ramos has described that country as the “neighborhood bully.” All along, the tactics it has been using are clearly intended to either delay arbitration, or to make us give up outright because of what seems to be saber-rattling on their part. This, after several countries have indicated their inclination to accept our claim as the rightful one. Such action does not indicate that there is love between China and any of its neighbors, does it?

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Ironically, we had this representative of Taiwan, Gary Song Huan Lin, who was enthusing over our province when he was here yesterday for the dedication of the St. John the Baptist Oratorium and the Catholic Ming Yuan College in Murcia, Negros Occidental, who was all praise and admiration for our place. He called our province a paradise and declared plans of helping us develop further. But do those plans jibe with those of Mainland China, which now claims Taiwan as its own? Whom can we trust?

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Meanwhile, let us all give thanks for the miracle of being spared from the wrath of Typhoon Ruby that had threatened to devastate our country in a manner worse than what Yolanda did. Indeed, some parts of the Philippines were worse-hit than others, but it seems Ruby had shed off some of its fury along the way. There were casualties, but we could call them negligible compared to those from Yolanda that caught us in total surprise. This time we were prepared, so we were spared. By the way several female babies born while Ruby was rampaging, have been named after her. Some people want to have reminders of unpleasant things.

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Despite the fact that Typhoon Ruby was threatening the country, the show had to go on between the Philippine Azkals in their football game against Thailand in their game at the Rizal Memorial Stadium Saturday. We did not win that one, but we did not lose it, either, so reports have it that our boys are now inspired, because they ended in a draw, which means the Thais, touted to be quite strong, are not unbeatable, after all. So the Azkals are leaving soon for the semi-finals in Bangkok. Let’s wish them luck.

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Meanwhile, the pressure continues for the Pacquiao-Mayweather encounter, and reports say the betting has already started on who is going to proclaim superiority in the ring. It has even been reported that one of the bettors readily placed a $5,000 bet – on Manny Pacquiao! That should enrage Floyd Mayweather, but whether it will embolden him to accept the challenge aired by the Pacman, we do not know. He has not yet ran out of excuses, you know. What we do know is that his camp has been trying to shame Manny by repeatedly showing videos of Pacquiao when he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth fight. Surprisingly, even Marquez was offended at that, and has dared Mayweather to go ahead and show his worth, instead of such dirty tactics.

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I missed an event that we had been looking forward to yesterday because of a very important family obligation. Yesterday was the inauguration of the “new kid on our block”, at Araneta Street, that is, the AEOLUS tires, or the Tyre Tech Sales and Autocare Inc. The company is the exclusive distributor of the Aeolus brand tires here. The establishment is right across the street from the DAILY STAR, so we are actually neighbors. Congratulations to the enterprising Yolly Hilado and her family, who are the brains behind this new undertaking, and good luck to them all!

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Also missed, for the same reason, was the celebration of the 10th anniversary of missionary service of the Little Brothers of the Congregation of St. John the Baptist that was held in Murcia yesterday. The event was a triple celebration, because it also included the dedication of the Oratorium of St. John the Baptist, and the blessing of the new Ming Yuan Catholic School building. Two bishops were the main celebrants, Most Rev. Vicente Navarra of Bacolod, and Most Rev. Martin Su of Taichung.*

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