What else but the word Noynoying exactly defines what Noynoy is doing regarding the Chinese presence in Scarborough Shoal despite that which his administration had claimed earlier as a mutual agreement reached between the sides of the Philippines and China to withdraw from the area as a means of de-escalating the conflict.
Last June 18, Noynoy ordered Philippine ships to abandon the shoal. He later claimed that he had ordered the pullout from the area to prevent the lives of government personnel from being placed in danger as a result of typhoon Butchoy then.
Strangely, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issued a different line, saying that China and the Philippines have mutually agreed to disengage from the face off and leave the shoal area.
Either there was no agreement and the DFA is lying or China did not recognize the supposed agreement because instead of leaving the area, more Chinese ships were deployed around the disputed area while the Chinese government did not mention anything about an agreement that will require the recalling of its state-owned vessels while at the same time issuing a statement short of thanking Noynoy for “withdrawing” Philippine vessels — a statement that, in effect it said had reduced the tension in the area.
The tone of Chinese statements afterwards was that Noynoy already had recognized the claim of China in the area as legitimate while not only maintaining its presence in the Scarborough Shoal but even increasing the ships it had deployed.
After the order for a pullout last June 18, the Palace said a re-evaluation on the redeployment of ships in the area will be undertaken. Logically, the consideration would be the subsequent moves of China on whether it would complement Noynoy’s recalling the only two government vessels, one from the Philippine Coast Guard and another from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, from the area of dispute.
Almost two weeks after, nothing has been heard of the “re-evaluation” process and China, instead of withdrawing, strengthened its presence in the shoal area that, as of latest count from the military, was 28 ships which are fishing vessels and Chinese government ships.
The Palace yesterday issued another harebrained response to questions on what Noynoy intends to do amid the increasing number of Chinese boats in the disputed area, saying that the re-evaluation of the situation continued but that Noynoy is too busy to attend to it.
The response is a variation of the canned response for a certain issue Noynoy wants to avoid. It is the usual it “is not the priority” at the moment.
Based on various statements made by his administration, it would appear that the Noynoy’s decision to recall Philippine ships from the area was based on negotiations with Chinese officials that are being expected to be matched by a similar removal of Chinese government-owned vessels in the area.
If those statements are true, China is now in the breach of whatever agreement was supposedly struck to ease the tension in the area.
The face off ended with the Philippines apparently on the losing end of it since it pulled out its ships while China decided to stay put, perhaps until hell freezes over.
China’s gambit apparently is paying off since Noynoy appears to be caught in a dilemma whether or not to resend Philippine ships to the area.
Resending government ships will likely be taken advantage of by China by portraying the Philippines as again provoking a conflict and maintaining the position that it has all the right to have an increasing number of vessels in the area which it considers as its own territory.
Noynoy, however, would look likely to have been decisively beaten and running away with a tail between his legs on a conflict which he had started if he permanently calls off vessels from venturing into the area. Worse, this would be seen as a tacit admission of China’s sovereign claim on the area.
Noynoying seems to be a convenient recourse and the reevaluation phase may be extended indefinitely using as alibi the string of typhoons passing the country during this rainy season.
Also the temptation for Noynoy to sleep it off before making a decision becomes harder to resist with the conducive weather.
Thus, the Philippine Navy stating that it is all geared up to return in facing off with the Chinese has made Noynoy lose his composure.
Noynoy has his own measured pace in doing things. He first need is to sleep it off and even now, he is too busy doing that.