What happened now? What’s the latest on this? It’s about the impending review of the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and the United States . I remember reading statements coming from some senators that since the country’s foreign affairs is a shared power between the executive branch and the upper house, they should be involved in the review.
Throwback. The Americans settled in nearby Clark Air Base in 1902, and this was during the Philipine-American war. A cavalry detachment found a grazing area with abundance of lemon grass that became fodder for their horses. They were our neighbors until Mt. Pinatubo erupted in June 1991.
Under the watch then of President Duterte there was a shift to the Peoples Republic of China. His reason? America is domineering and imperialistic. According to him the relationship is one sided. Ex- President Digong said : 'They can come to our country without a visa, and Filipinos have to lined up to secure one and get rejected in many occasions for no apparent reason.'
Analyze our relationship with the USA, it can be disturbing to know the serious imbalance in trade with them. The aid given to the Philipines is pittance compared to other countries, despite the fact that we are their closest ally, and used five big areas in our country for long periods of time. Almost all past presidents of our country were subservient and were willing 'accomplices' whatever was dictated by their White House and Pentagon. When they have no use for them they ‘dispose’ them. Maybe we can revisit the history of Presidents Manuel Roxas, Ramon Magsaysay and Ferdinand Marcos.They are always on watch over their special interests, and overlooked what is ours, and usually they can get away with it.
There is a saying that the worse worries are those that never come. We worried what will happen to off-base communities adjacent to Clark Air Base once the military installation will close shop. That was the feeling of almost everybody. Fear to lose their jobs, business earnings etc.etc. It didn't happen. On the contrary, with the Americans departure, the off-zone communities like Angeles, Mabalacat, San Fernando and as far as many towns of Tarlac experienced an unprecedented growth.
During the years that Clark was administered by the Americans, there were only 22,000 workers employed by them. Today there is more than 100 thousand strong workforce. Revenues generated by business activities now at Clark Freeport runs into billions on a yearly basis.
NEWS BITS: Will the death of communist leader Jose Ma. Sison end the more than fifty years of insurgency in the country? That remains to be seen. Maybe the Marcos Jr. government are carefully and seriously studying the impact of Sison’s death.
Thousands of patrons, coming from all over, joined the soft opening of Royce Hotel and Casino last Sunday, December 18. It’s the biggest and the most fashionable in the Clark Freeport. The casino staff were so pleasant despite work overload. Unlike in Hann casino where their casino staff , particularly those in their marketing department are so suplada at parang bawal ngumiti sa mga customers. Sobrang mahal pa ang pagkain doon, lalo na sa MARKT and Atrium. One San Miguel light is P250.