LOSS-LOSS SITUATION

By Bayawanon

The so-called "independent foreign policy" of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte does not give good to the Philippines and actually puts the Philippines in a loss-loss situation for the following reasons which I would discuss below to wit: 1.) The independent foreign policy of President Duterte technically tilts to China and Russia; 2.) The independent foreign policy foments the president to loan gargantuan amounts of money which would be hard for the Philippines to pay; 3.) The independent foreign policy emboldens China not to respect the decision of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas in the matter of the West Philippine Sea and the Spratlys.

I. -- The independent foreign policy of President Duterte technically tilts to Russia and China.

The foreign policy of Pres. Rodrigo Roa Duterte is not actually independent as a matter of fact it favors China and Russia more than their geopolitical rivals, because of this the geopolitical rivals of China and Russia like the European Union and the United States may distance from the Philippines which may result to possible of divestment of their businesses interests in the Philippines that may be the window for the economic collapse of the country.

It is true that U.S. President Ronald Trump promised to support President Duterte but the truth is this, Trump is not America and America is not Trump.

Just recently the U.S. House of Representatives has begun its investigation regarding the human rights atrocities the Duterte government is doing, and this would be the start of a Philippine-America relations to get sour if not the cessation of good relations between the two countries.

II. -- The independent foreign policy foments the president to loan gargantuan amounts of money which would be hard for the Philippines to pay.

It is a public knowledge that the president has loaned from many countries like China and Russia and such loans are so colossal that it would take years for the Philippines to pay it. This has happened to the Philippines before, during the time of President Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos where and when the Philippines incurred gigantic borrowings from the international community which we are still sadly paying for as of this point.

The possible inability of the Philippines to pay the loans it has incurred may lead also to an economic crisis, since the income derive by the Philippines from its Gross National Income and Gross National Product can simply be used by the same to its loans to China, Russia and others and little would be left for the maintenance of its governmental operations.

III. -- The independent foreign policy emboldens China not to respect the decision of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas in the matter of the West Philippine Sea and the Philippines

If China won't respect the decision of the International Tribunal on the Law of the Seas regarding the ownership of the West Philippine Sea and some islets and islands at the Spratlys, the more reason that China won't respect such decision by way of the independent foreign policy of China.

The independent foreign policy of Duterte would render meaningless the decision of the International Tribunal in favor of the Philippines since the same starts to actually sleep on her rights over the West Philippine Sea and the Spratlys issues.

By virtue of the foregoing premises, I believe that the INDEPENDENT FOREIGN POLICY of the Philippine strongman Rodrigo Roa Duterte is actually a LOSS-LOSS SITUATION for the Philippines.

DUTERTE IS THE LAW OF THE PHILIPPINES

By Bayawanon

According to plenty of circumstances happening in the countryside, it seems like the president stands as the number one law of the land. The president gets what he wants, and his allies who are practically his subjects follow him always to the extent of doing what the president orders without thinking twice.

The leading political figure of the Philippines had ordered the postponement of the Barangay elections last October, 2016 and the said elections was postponed as he wished, the same elections may be postponed again by this year on the ground that many if not majority of the village chiefs are involved in the illicit drug trade without enough dossiers, records, and evidence that may prove such allegations.

The supreme national leader in his speeches, would encourage police officers and civilians alike to kill drug addicts and his oral orders are actually happening. His braggadocio as regards to the incarceration of an opposition leader becomes a reality even without observing the normal legal processes.

He promised to the police officers that if they can kill drug addicts and if they're going to be charged in court for doing it, he's going to do everything to free them. Now, it is happening to the letter of his words by freeing a police officer charged of murder in connection to the dreaded DRUG WAR by lowering the case to homicide and by reinstating the same to his former post.

Basing on these circumstances, it seems like the good leader of the land is weilding absolute power and what is not good with this is, the majority of the Filipino people are clapping their hands in approval even in times when the president makes decisions that are inimical to their existence and to the existence of the democratic aggregates of the land.

It seems like the Filipino citizens have already submitted their inalienable rights to liberty, life, property and happiness to President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, since clearly he is now ruling the Philippines absolutely and apparently he is now the law of the land.

THE SECRET WEAPONS OF JEFF HORN TOWARDS VICTORY

By Bayawanon

II'm still in awe why Manny Pacquiao lost the World Boxing Organization Welterweight Boxing diadem. The once dreaded boxing lion was vanquished in the BATTLE OF BRISBANE via the pounding, head locking, head-butting, elbowing and youthful Jeff "The Hornet" Horn.
Pacquiao's courage and heart were still there for him to successfully defend his crown but he lost the same because of five secret weapons of Horn towards which I would discuss below and they are the following: 1) The JEFF FENECH FACTOR; 2) The REFEREE FACTOR; 3) THE CROWD FACTOR 4) The ROUGH HOUSING FACTOR and 5) The UNDERESTIMATION FACTOR.
*** THE JEFF FENECH FACTOR
Jeff Fenech is a three-division world boxing champion who also landed in the boxing hall of fame, who eventually a boxing coach. He once upon a time trained Australian boxer Nedal Hussein in a boxing match in Manila many years ago where Pacquiao nearly lost by way of dirty tactics.
Jeff Fenech is a consultant to the Horn camp and advised Horn to bring the fight to Pacquiao and make the fight a brawl. In connection with the result of the fight where Horn made some rough housing and connect the same to the Hussein fight, it seemed like Fenech advised Horn to do the dirty tricks for the latter to wrest the world title crown from Pacquiao.
*** THE REFEREE FACTOR
The referee of the said boxing event was clearly favoring Jeff Horn, as a matter of fact, no point was ever deducted to Horn in times where he would repeatedly headlock, elbow, hold and head butt the former champion.
A point deduction or even a warning against Horn would have affected the fight and Horn's momentum would have lessened had the referee stood neutral and judicious.
*** THE CROWD FACTOR
Due to the encouragement and support of the hometown crowd, Jeff Horn was fighting like a champion and Pacquiao was acting like a challenger. Seldom that we would see that a title fight is being staged in the turf of the challenger, usually a title fight is held in the champion's lair or in a neutral territory, because of this Horn got the advantage without Pacquiao noticing it.
*** THE ROUGH HOUSING FACTOR
Jeff Horn used everything to win, aside from his good lateral movements, body and head movements, punching power and speed, he had clearly resorted to dirty tactics such as head locking, head-butting, elbowing and holding. These dirty tricks on the part of the challenger had clearly diminished the movement of Pacquiao which eventually contributed to his loss.
*** THE UNDERESTIMATION FACTOR
Manny Pacquiao, the champion had clearly and unequivocally underestimated the challenger, since the challenger is not a household name in the world of boxing except Australia. Jeff Horn had only seventeen (17) fights across his name prior to the big fight and them same had no big fight aside from his fight with the former world champion, the South African Ali Funeka.
These are the silent factors which I believe contributed to Pacquiao's loss in his world title defense in Australia basing on my sportsman's point of view. Pacquiao can make these factors as an excuse, but as some would put it that "In victory or in defeat, a good athlete never has an alibi".