Illusion

For ordinary Filipinos the huge US Missle Destroyers anchored at Puerto Princesa is seem like Uncle Sam coming to the aid of Juan dela Cruz. At first glance, it does seem like the US had made the decision to provide operational support to the Philippines in the simmering row over the Spratlys. Throw in the subtle rhetoric from the US State department and you have the illusion of strong US support over the dispute.

But then thats what it really is. An illusion. An attractive and useful one at that for both the US and the PHL. On one end, it provides hope for the majority of Filipinos having to confront the reality of their military's incapacity to protect the country's territorial claims. More importantly it diminishes pressure on the current administration to do something over the reports of encroachment, harrassment and outright arrogance of both the Vietnamese and Chinese Navy in the area.

For the United States, the exercises have the colloraly perception that it is indeed fulfilling its obligations as a treaty ally.

Sadly the CARAT exercises which have been held annually since the mid 1990's is nothing more than a thinly veiled excuse to ensure US Forces in the region are ready for any eventuality. In the simplest of terms it means the US want to keep their military doing all manners of drills and shuttling their military hardware across the region rather than have their sailors and marines getting fat and lazy in their major bases in Okinawa and Hawaii.

While covering the non essential facets of the exercise in Palawan this month, I noticed both the Americans and the Philippine military bending over backward just to make it painfully clear that the activities had absolutely no relation to the brewing tensions over the Spratlys.

Someone inside the military told me, the US doesnt even want video or pictures of US and PHL troops operating side by side with firearms to be shown in tv or newspaper reports. The US is taking exceptional care not to ruffle the feathers of China or the other belligerent claimnant Vietnam.

Most importantly, that portion of the exercise where both US Navy Missle Destroyers will be conducting maneuvers with aging PHL Navy ships is strictly off-limits to media. My source say this was a specific condition laid down by their US counterparts.

Lt Commander Mike Morley of the US Navy who acts as spokesman for the US side explains it is their policy not to have media cover the at-sea phase to avoid the responsibility of having civilians around during the naval drills.
That the media people will be onboard the PHL Navy ships and not the US vessels make little difference in light of this policy.

Which ofcourse is entirely consistent with US military policy when they embed media in similar dangerous situations like say the invasion of Iraq, the first gulf war and the conquest of Afghanistan.

As I told Morley over dinner one night "Its your job to state the official facts and it is medias job to try and read between the lies..err the lines."

As for the much publicized claim of extensive oil deposits in the region, it is hard to believe that a nation willing to go to war with two countries like Afghanizstan and Iraq to secure oil reserves would overlook such a thing sitting under their noses for the greater part of the 21st century. Chances are they have already looked and have either found out that there is none or if there is, it is much to deep underground to be of any commercial interest.

A trip to Japan

GMA News reporter Chino Gaston and cameraman Melchor Quintos made it to Japan’s most devastated city. Gaston reports that amid the disaster, the Japanese are exhibiting awe-inspiring calm and discipline. Their van running low on gas, Chino Gaston made a desperate suggestion to his Japanese driver, whose reply made the Filipino feel ashamed.

We reached tsunami-devastated Sendai in northeastern Japan with only the clothes on our backs and the small supply of water we carried in our day packs.

Our GMA News team had joined a Philippine consulate team sent to Sendai to check on the Filipinos there. We had arrived in Tokyo on March 13 with full provisions, but as we waited at the Philippine embassy that same day to interview the ambassador, we received a sudden invitation to join the government team about to leave for the site of devastation. Hence, there was no time to pick up our provisions.

Like many others in Japan, we had to rely on the generosity of strangers to get us through the bitter-cold days and nights.



Our convoy was allowed to pass through the otherwise closed Tohoku Expressway linking Tokyo with Sendai. It had been closed for the past few days due to the explosion at Fukushima's nuclear power plant which was a scant 50 kilometers away from the area where the expressway passed through Fukushima.



Upon entering Sendai, the bright lights and demeanor of people walking through the streets seemed a stark contrast to the images shown on TV of a tsunami-ravaged coastline and rescuers combing through the muddy ruins of the city.

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PHL Embassy team in Japan meets with Filipino evacuees at a relief center in Takomachi Elementary School in Sendai City on Monday. Chino Gaston
Our driver Tosho-san quickly explained that we were in Sendai's central district up in the mountains and that we were still five minutes from the coastal destruction.

A trip to the grocery however revealed the harsh reality here. Most shops were already closed and the ones that remained open were rationing what they sold to each person.

There have been no reports that Filipinos had perished in the tsunami. But the embassy staff have only gotten in touch with less than a hundred of the estimated 1500 Filipinos living in Miyagi Prefecture, where Sendai City is the main population center.

We found added solace in the warmth and kindness of our fellow Filipinos living in Sendai, many of them women married to Japanese. Despite the uncertainty they faced, our kababayan welcomed journalists and embassy staff to their homes and shared their limited water and food.

While some wanted to be evacuated to Tokyo for fear of another earthquake and possible radiation exposure from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, most wanted to stay and be with their Japanese spouses.

Not a single Japanese we met was even considering leaving Sendai.


Mud and debris litter the airport in Sendai City, four days after the quake and tsunami. Chino Gaston
Lining up for supplies in front of a department store, I could not help but admire the composure and discipline of the Japanese. Those I interviewed admitted they were worried and that the situation was indeed dire, but they remained polite and willing to answer questions from a nosy journalist.

One young man was waiting in line with his sister and told me he was going inside the department store to buy whatever was still being sold.

Elsewhere, Japanese students were giving away free onigiri, or rice balls, as well as miso soup to people in evacuation centers. Outside, kids were sweeping the grounds and picking up litter and debris from the earthquake.

Even inside the devastated Sendai International Airport where cars, planes and buildings had been strewn about like toys, there was no sign of looting. People using the terminal as a shelter did not even touch the food and water inside the many food shops that had been abandoned.

Since the supply of fuel was severely limited and difficult to purchase, I innocently asked our driver Tosho-san if there was a possibility of siphoning fuel from the wrecked vehicles strewn all over the coast.

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Despite their desperation, Japanese residents of tsunami-devastated Sendai calmly line up for food and relief supplies. Chino Gaston
His answer made me feel ashamed. Tosho-san told me if we did that he wanted no part of it since he did not want to join us in hell.

This same man would bid us an emotional farewell a day later after his vehicle ran out of fuel in the middle of the highway and we transferred to another.

Tosho-san refused to join us when we told him to stay in our hotel or be with the Filipinos we met holed up in their homes. He said he would stay in his car and trust his government to help him get back to Tokyo.

As we left him standing beside his van, Tosho-san shouted, "Get out from Sendai while you still can!"

We watched him shrink in size from the window just as snow began to fall softly on the stricken city. – HS, GMA News