By Atty. Antonio P. Pekas
The Australian ambassador, His Excellency Steven J. Robinson AO, had been going around the country. He’d been down south, the middle, and here up north. Well, an ambassador should be an expert regarding his country of assignment and nothing can give more expertise than experiencing what local places of consequence have to offer.
While in Baguio City, after visiting Banaue of Ifugao, he had to learn about the other side of the coin in this part of the world. He had been meeting with local politicians and so the voice of the people, the media, must also be heard. From who else should he learn about that better than from those behind the mass media.
So he invited about eight people from the media for lunch. As the Philippine Information Agency texted me, it is RSVP and you have to come early. Sure. I was more than eager to get out from the stress of work complicated by new Covid restrictions and have an hour or two of bantering with fellow members of the fourth estate, and an intelligent conversation with a foreign ambassador
So off I went last Wednesday to a classy restaurant on the edge of town with a niece view of the mountain tops in the distance. We arrived earlier than the ambassador, so we had enough time to position ourselves by the table on the veranda.
Our media colleagues, knowing how talkative I am, reserved a seat for me beside where the ambassador would be and another talkative one would be right in front. “You take care of the talking while we will take care of the eating,” they said.
While we were scanning the menu, I started the conversation by asking the ambassador if the QUAD would last. I was of course referring to the quadrilateral alliance between Australia, India USA and Japan as some sort of a united front against China. The trade row between Australia and China is still ongoing, the smoke from India’s border skirmishes with the Middle Kingdom is still in the air, Japan’s claim over some small rocky Pacific islands is still being threatened by China, which is now the biggest other claimant of super-power-hood.
With an ax to grind against China, the new international bully—which has recently stationed about 22 warships on our islands, the Spratlys, in the South China Sea—all of those countries would certainly like to stick to the alliance.
The ambassador said though that it is not a military alliance. When talking to diplomats you have to read between the lines. Every idea they like to convey is couched in diplomatese.
Then all sorts of topics sprouted from the rest of us….. from Australian wines, to AusAid, and the recent floods in some parts of the Outback.
I then brought out how Lee Kwan Yew answered the question on what country would be more powerful, China or the USA? Lee said that America will always be more powerful as long as it continues to attract the most brilliant people around the world to its shores. Part of that effort is the USA’s innumerable offers of postgraduate scholarships to foreigners, including military officers.
So my next question was, “Does Australia have a similar program?”
The answer was, YES. As he revealed, he was scheduled to meet with members of the association (in Baguio) of alumni from Australian universities.
And the revelation of all, the ambassador found out that a very good number of military officers in the Philippines had received some training in Australia.
Of course, to accentuate our countries’ cooperation, he mentioned Australia’s invaluable high tech military intelligence help during the battle for Marawi.**
