The Mess in the Sea

Photo from: ABS-CBN News

The scattered islands in the South China Sea poses a threat and is creating a mess to the entire ASEAN members. Each country claims a parcel of those islands. Some are secretly building infrastructures mostly of a military camp to fortify its claim. Among the ASEAN claimant, China is the most aggressive to occupy those reefs. China even threatened co-claimant once they pass either by air or water near there area. So the islands mess escalate into air space gridlock too. And this mess might not be solved even in a century as leaders of these countries are more hawkish in their approach to solving their differences.

By looking at the map alone, we can easily surmise that China has little claims of these islands since it is quite far from there nautical zone, so the major claimants are supposed to be countries that are members of ASEAN, namely Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. But historically, China went on to assert its claims during the era of Tang Dynasty. Now, if we go by the UNCLOS, this can be settled through arbitration in the UN, which the Philippines avail d it and won recently but the verdict was not exercised because of the lack of recognition from China which is not a party of UNCLOS.

Regional groups like the ASEAN, APEC and other multi organisation have attempted-to discuss and created a manifesto on how to resolve the issues, however, every time they release a guidelines it was face with strong influence or opposition by China. ASEAN members are willing to dialogue with China and have even agreed multilateral talks but it is only for naught.

Recently, individual nation whose claims were being halted of a hegemony opted to discuss through back channels links to not preempt any external aggression. The president of the Philippines have been cooperating with China and did not enforce the ruling made by UN in exchange of grants and investment to the Philippines. He has been heavily criticized by foreign media because of his stance to China.

So how do we solve a problem like South China Sea (West Philippine Sea)? If we can't get it right through legal proceedings such as the UNCLOS, an ignored regional assertion of ASEAN of its territories and a repeatedly failed direct bilateral talks, is it really doomed to perdition?

The vast islands is home to millions of land and sea habitats plus the rich oil and minerals it possess makes the aggressive claims of these nations. Duterte’s foreign policy is ironically soft to his macho personal behavior. He is non confrontational as compared to his immediate predecessor. He is more open and cooperative to extend joint exploration to the islands which the Philippines had claimed. A new turn of events on the part of the Philippines, despite its longstanding maritime disputes with China, emerged as a formidable partner for Philippine economy. The leadership should then have a full appreciation of the challenges and opportunities presented by our giant neighbour.

For a personal and educator standpoint, I suggest that instead of the building frenzy on the contested seas, why not build Research Stations and/or Tourist attractions? Weaponizing them and turning it into military depots will serve no one's interest except the usual realpolitik underpinned by power.

By all means, let everyone who have the means build these islands do so. Later we can connect them and call it an island of peace. But we need political scientists, economists, masters in international relations, environmental planners and architects to work on this.


Suggested Readings:

• Vietnam Secretly building 10 islands in the South China Sea
• China warns PH every time they fly over West Philippine Sea
• Duterte dares US to declare war on China
• Recto Bank Reed clear violation of International Law- PH lead counsel

A 1derful Idea

My striving to get a Masters degree in Educational Administration is not only something that I would want to pursue for myself. Aside of course for an opportunity to also better myself in terms of knowledge in a wider setting but in a more specialized field, I would like to use what I have gained from all these for the benefit of the education sector in general. For me, there is much more to be done for the education department that has not been explored because our administrators themselves are not administrators themselves, and some even were just forced to take the position because they don’t have other choice. It is important that we focus on the education first and foremost because it is here where most (if not all) the foundations of a child’s socialization and knowledge are formed. And it is important that the child is educated holistically, and with proper guidance so as to create further impression for the child that his learning does not have to stop in the four walls of the classroom.

Curriculum planning is one of the most important facets of being an administrator. The curriculum is the heart of the subject matter. If the curriculum in itself is so inefficient, no matter how hard the teacher tries to incorporate his lecture to the child’s learning experience, it would still be a fail somewhere. There lies the role of the administrator like me to envision a sound plan with a holistic approach to the child’s learning, may he/she be a pre-schooler, a high schooler or even a college student. There lies the role of the administrator to also make it possible that the teachers who will eventually implement the curriculum plan know how to do about with it and how to use it properly. There lies the role of the administrator to evaluate the outcomes and if there are issues with it, to continually improve on the curriculum for future use.

I have learned through this course the experience, not only in creating curriculum plans, but to actually think of something I could use myself at Claret School where I am now. Like my ultimate goal to be of use in the general education sector, I would like to do something, and to also leave a legacy to Claret. A school with a curriculum for holistic learning is not only better, it may even be what Claret badly needs right now. Since I am already in the position to propose such action as curriculum planning, it’s an endeavor I would be willing to work on with the rest of the academic team.

Throughout the semester, although also pressured with a lot of workloads in Claret, especially with the commencement of the Golden Jubilee celebration, and still all the preparations for the new evaluation tool I am developing, and the projects for teacher enhancement trainings, I opted to just enlist one course, and it happened to be this course. And every Friday after office, I would unconsciously ready myself for another evening of new knowledge acquisition. Indeed, it was an enjoyable ride altogether. I couldn’t be gladder that I have enlisted in this course, even though in reality, it had actually been one of the most intensive subjects I’ve had so far in my Masters. Of course, I know that in the end, all the requirements do have their own advantages for me, as each time I reflect one more time about the reports, and then I planned about my syllabus, I do see another side of what have been said before. I enthusiastically participated in the class discussions and really do my best to come to class because I know that I will not only learn something from my professor but also from my interactions with my classmates and their different experiences and backgrounds as well. Of course I would give myself a grade of “1”, who wouldn’t want one? That’s the reason I do all my home works (preparing for the discussion), complete my requirements, and strive to be the best in whatever I present, say or do. Whatever shortcomings I may have incurred in this course, it would still be something I have put my best foot on, and just that it may did not turned out well. I believe that we all deserve to have high grades anyway, since what everyone did may also be their best efforts already. It’s just that for others, their best efforts may be better. But who says so, and who can say that one’s efforts are lesser, it was just a comparison to another’s, but compared maybe to his previous efforts, maybe it would be more objective that way. And compared to my previous efforts with my previous courses and even majors, well, this is really one of my best efforts altogether.

I think I really deserve that ONE!