Philippines adding more naval patrols because of concerns about China

Noynoy Aquino, aka Benigno Aquino III, President of the Philippines

The government of the Philippines has been increasing its military presence:

6 August 2013

Philippines Boosts Patrols Amid China Sea Dispute

SUBIC BAY — The Philippines’ second Hamilton-class warship has arrived in local waters at a time of continuing territorial tensions in the South China Sea. Manila’s military expansion program plans to build what the Philippines calls a “minimum credible defense posture.”

Under rainy skies and with much fanfare, President Benigno Aquino greeted the 115-meter cutter at Alava Wharf, near the former United States naval base. Aquino said the ship would guarantee patrolling of the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone, which borders its coastlines.

“[This ship] is strengthening the government’s military modernization program,” he said. “And it is erasing the old image of a military that lacks equipment and makes things hard on personnel.”

The 46-year-old BRP Ramon Alcaraz is a second-hand Coast Guard cutter from the United States’ store of used military assets. It joins another used cutter that the Philippines bought from Washington in 2011. With refurbishing and retrofitting of remotely operated machine guns and other hardware, the Alcaraz cost the Philippines about $15 million.

In May, Aquino announced a $1.8 billion infusion to the country’s military upgrade program, which still places it behind some of the smaller defense budgets in the region.

The new hardware includes half a squadron or 12 fighter jets, two frigates and an air-surveillance radar system. Defense spokesman Peter Paul Galvez said the department wants these purchases to be completed before 2016 when Aquino’s term ends.

The idea of having a minimum defensive posture to confront China in a limited way may make some sense. China does not yet seem to be in a position to wish to directly provoke retaliatory attacks from allies of the Philippines like the USA. In an all-out conflict, China would have massive military advantages over the Philippines, but hopefully that will not happen.

For the sake of its international trade and other international relationships, despite some of its claims in Asia China might decide that this is not the time to pick a fight with the Philippines.

Yet, ultimately after the the USA is out of the way (cf. Daniel 11:39; Revelation 13:4), I suspect that the Philippines may feel that it will need to align militarily with China.

Notice what Fidel V. Ramos, a former president of the Philippines wanted, when he wrote:

…the urgent task for Asian statesmen over the next 5-10 years will be to replace the region’s Pax Americana, which has guaranteed regional stability for decades, with a more comprehensive Pax Asia-Pacifica that is built on inclusiveness and burden-sharing. (Ramos FV. Building Pax Asia-Pacifica. July 14, 2011. http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/ramos9/English)

The fact that Fidel Ramos hopes for/expects more Pan-Asian cooperation within the 5 -10 years from 2011 is also of interest. This could be is consistent with some of my own prophetic understanding of these matters (though certain military cooperation may well be later than this). Any Pax Asia-Pacifica that replaces “Pax-Americana” suggests that many nations in Asia expect to have some type of confederation or other agreement with the major powers like China.

For now at least, the Philippines seems to want to try to continue publicly discourage what it sees as Chinese aggression. But ultimately, the “Pax-Americana” will be gone. People in the Philippines, and elsewhere, need to realize that.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Islands and Bible Prophecy What’s ahead for islands? What does the Bible prophesy about them?
Paglalahad ng Mga Paniniwala ng Patuloy na Iglesya ng Diyos This is the Statement of Beliefs of the Continuing Church of God in Tagalog, the primary language of the Philippines.
CCOG.ASIA We in the Continuing Church of God also have the url www.ccog.asia which has a focus on Asia and has various articles in Mandarin Chinese as well as some in English.
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Asian? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon?
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 1: Genesis and Chinese Characters Where did the Chinese people come from? This article provides information showing that the Chinese peoples must have known about various accounts in the Book of Genesis up until their dispersion after the Tower of Babel.
China, Its Biblical Past and Future, Part 2: The Sabbath and Some of God’s Witness in China When did Christianity first come to China? And is there early evidence that they observed the seventh day sabbath?
Asia in Prophecy What is Ahead for Asia? Who are the “Kings of the East”? What will happen to nearly all the Chinese, Russians, Indians, and others of Asia? China in prophecy, where? Who has the 200,000,000 man army related to Armageddon? A YouTube video of interest may be Is China THE Threat to the United States of America?
Anglo – America in Prophecy & the Lost Tribes of Israel Are the Americans, Canadians, English, Scottish, Welsh, Australians, Anglo (non-Dutch) Southern Africans, and New Zealanders descendants of Joseph? Where are the lost ten-tribes of Israel? Who are the lost tribes of Israel? What will happen to Jerusalem and the Jews in Israel? Will God punish the U.S.A., Canada, United Kingdom, and other Anglo nations? Why might God allow them to be punished first? A video of possible interest may be Will Will USA Spying Help the Beast Power?
Will the Anglo-Nations be Divided and Have People Taken as Slaves? Will the lands of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand be divided? What about Jerusalem? What does Bible prophecy teach? Are there non-biblical prophecies that support this idea? Who will divide those lands? Who will end up with the lands and the people? Here is a link to a video titled Will the USA and other Anglo-nations be Divided and Their People Made Slaves?