UKRAINE INVASION HAS PAVED THE WAY FOR VP LENI'S PRESIDENCY

 

“Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” (John Acton)

On the world stage, the disparaging word “pariah” is now synonymous with the name “Putin.” As MSNBC News headlined – “Putin becomes a global pariah in the wake of [Ukraine] invasion: ‘This is Putin’s war, this isn’t Russia’s war.”

THIS WAR IS NOT IN MY NAME

Indeed, it is Putin’s war. Dr. Irina Kuznetsova, who emigrated from Russia to Britain, wrote in The New York Times “This War Is Not In My Name” as excerpted below:

“The so-called history [Putin] cites to justify this aggression is riddled with lies. The line between facts and disinformation has been blurred in Russia for a long time. My family and I are not alone in remembering the horrors of the past century that were carried out in the name of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin has denied key facts around Holodomor, the famine that claimed the lives of millions of Ukrainians. It has whitewashed massacres in Chechnya and the Beslan school attack. Yet we have not forgotten. And we see what has been happening in recent years – political persecutions, expanding repressions, silencing dissent, shuttering Memorial, Russia’s most prominent human rights organization. Step by step, we have seen the denial and attempted erasure of historical truth.”

MONSTER

Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin in his article in The Guardian has a more derogatory word for Putin: “monster” as excerpted below:

“On 24 February, the armor of the “enlightened autocrat” that had housed Vladimir Putin for the previous 20 years cracked and fell to pieces. The world saw a monster-crazed in its desires and ruthless in its decision. The monster had grown gradually, gaining strength from year to year, marinating in its absolute authority, imperial aggression, hatred for western democracy, and malice fueled by the resentment engendered by the fall of the USSR.

“Putin declared that the collapse of the USSR was the greatest catastrophe of the 20^th century. For all clear-headed Soviet people, its collapse had been a blessing; it was impossible to find a single-family unscathed by the Red Wheel of Stalinist Repressions. Millions were annihilated. Tens of millions were poisoned by the fumes of communism – an unattainable goal requiring moral and physical sacrifices by Soviet citizens.”

Sorokin narrated a joke on Putin’s preferred slogan: “Russia rising from its knees.” That is, Russia got up from its knees, but quickly got down onto all fours: corruption, authoritarianism, bureaucratic arbitrariness, and poverty. Then, he added: war.

Sorokin has advised a grim warning to all westerners who sympathize with Putin to shut up and realize that a full-scale war is being unleashed in 21^st-century Europe.

“The aggressor is Putin’s Russia. It will bring nothing but death and destruction to Europe. This was unleashed by a man corrupted by absolute power, who, in his madness, has decided to redraw the map of our world. If you listen to Putin’s speech announcing a ‘special operation,’ America and NATO are mentioned more than Ukraine. Let us also recall his recent ‘ultimatum’ to NATO. As such, his goal isn’t Ukraine, but western civilization, the hatred for which he lapped up in the black milk he drank from the KGB’s teat.”

MY IDOL

Let me tack on this pertinent information. Putin signed a law that would allow him to run for the presidency twice more in his lifetime, potentially keeping him in office until 2036. He surpassed even that of Joseph Stalin who ruled the Soviet Union for 29 years and made Putin the longest-serving Moscow leader since the Russian empire.

I would hazard a guess. After you read all of the above and what will follow below, I bet you will be relieved to know that we have a Constitution with this provision: “The President of the Philippines is elected by direct vote of the people, and has a term of six years with no provision for reelection.”

“So who would make a good ally?” Al Jazeera television’s Steve Chow asked Duterte and then showed him the name, Vladimir Putin.

“My idol,” Duterte said.

“Idol?” Chow said.

“Yes. He has no illusions about himself. He knows that he was trained for politics. Or to be a statesman. He acts just like a President. My characterization of Putin is what I would describe myself.”

Euro News report:

 “[D]uring a visit to Beijing Rodrigo Duterte denounced America without reservation. ‘America has lost me. I’ve realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world – China, Philippines, and Russia. It’s the only way’.” In 2019, PDI bannered: “Duterte off to 2^nd Russia visit, to meet ‘favorite hero’ Putin.”

BBM-SARA: FACE OF CONTINUITY

With our present Constitution’s six-year term limit for PRRD, you may heave a sigh of relief. Not yet.

“UniTeam Is ‘Face’ of Continuity of Duterte Reforms – Sara Duterte” (PDI headline, Feb 17, 2022)

“’Great Honor’: Chinese Envoy Meets Bongbong Marcos Anew at Embassy Event” (CNN Philippines, Oct 21, 2021)

Let me tack on another pertinent information. Vastly superior to Putin, Xi Jinping is allowed to remain “president for life” as China removed the term limit on the presidency.

KEY POINTS

“By invading Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin violated his neighbor’s sovereignty and the notion of international law out of the window. Afraid of one organization, NATO, Putin ignored the principles of another organization, the United Nations, as well as an agreement known as the Budapest Memorandum, signed by Russia, and specifically meant to protect Ukraine from invasion.” (The New York Times)

“CHINA IS DISMEMBERING A HUGE CHUNK OF [PHILIPPINES] AND MAKING IT PART OF ITS OWN… What China is doing to a big part of our dominion is no different from what it did to Tibet and what it wants to do to Taiwan. IT IS NO DIFFERENT FROM WHAT RUSSIA IS PREPARING TO DO [war’s underway] IN UKRAINE.” (Excerpted from PDI Joel Ruiz Butuyan’s column, underscoring mine).

WPS: VP LENI’S POSITION

VP Leni spelled out her position on the West Philippine Sea during the CNN Philippines presidential debate.

Day One ng aking presidency ang concepto ng instrument of national power ang aking susundin. Ano ito?

(Day One of my presidency, I will abide by the concept of the instrument of national power. What is it?)

1. Diplomacy. Papalakasin natin ang pakikipag-ugnayan natin sa ating mga allies, at ng mga ibang bansa na pareho ang paniniwala sa atin, para mayroon tayong kakampi just in case mayroong aggression.

(We will strengthen the cooperation with our allies and other countries with the same beliefs with us so that we will be a part of an alliance just in case of aggression.)

2. Information. Seseguraduhin natin na ang pamahalaan natin ang nangunguna, para i-push yong isang national consensus para magkaisa ang mga Pilipino behind it.

(We will ensure our government will spearhead so we can push forward the national consensus to unite Filipinos behind it.)

3. Military. Seseguraduhin natin na pupunduhan natin yong ating Armed Forces of the Philippines para maka pag put up tayo ng credible defense against sa ating mga aggressors hindi man natin mapantayan yong lakas ng ibang bansa, at least mayroon tayong ilalaban sa kanila pareho ng pinapakita ngayon ng Ukraine.

(We will ensure to allocate resources to our Armed Forces of the Philippines so we can put up credible defense against our aggressors. Though we cannot be a match for the military power of other countries, at least we can fight them like what the Ukrainians have shown.)

4. Economy. Seseguraduhin natin magiging resilient ang ating economiya para hindi tayo naiipit ng mga predatory practices ng ibang mga foreign powers.

(We will ensure that our economy will be resilient so we will not be exploited by the predatory practices of foreign powers.)

BOTTOM LINE

The Ukraine invasion has paved the way for VP Leni’s presidency.