By Herman Tiu Laurel

 

China’s 2025 Two Sessions reviewed government performance and projected its plans in  coming years based on its regular Five Years Plans. In previous decades, these annual meetings of the National Peoples’ Congress (NPC) and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) have proved their superior democratic ideological leadership and governance to guide the country in becoming the largest and most innovative economy in just over seven and a half decades.

China has shown the contribution to the world  that  a major nation can make when it shares its prosperity during its monumental but peaceful rise. . China now contributes 21.70% to global growth (twice that of the U.S.) and this will grow larger towards 2029 based on IMF projections. China’s global economic outreach through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has invested $1.175-trillion in 149 countries around the world and primarily the Global South,  underwriting economic development and uplifting the poorer nations.

2025 Two Sessions : Stability, Consumption, Open Market.

The 2025 Two Sessions offer many takeaways for the Philippines, such as the drive for New Quality Productive Forces in innovation and global collaboration such innovative products as AI, EV, 6 G Internet and scores of other new inventions from China.

One of the most important takeaways came during the press conference of Foreign Minister Wang Yi that highlighted the role of China as “a source of stability in a turbulent world.” In contrast, the United States of America is and has been, for all the past decades , the source of global economic and financial dislocations and sanctions, including the 2008 Financial Crash, the wars in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Palestine, the Trade Wars 1.0 and 2.0.  China has consistently provided the counterbalance to US disruptions. thereby inspiring confidence.

China is targeting 5% economic growth in 2025, a huge prospect that will give its middle class of 400-million and growing consumer market a major boost by the Chinese government to spur consumption/ Meanwhile, the Philippines is losing out on food exports to China compared to ASEAN and other competitors, sliding behind Vietnam in the past year in banana exports to China. If it doesn’t shape up soon, the Philippines will lose market share permanently and billions of dollars.

Despite Philippine provocations, China’s arms  continue to be open to all Global South friends, including the Philippines. In December 2024, the Philippine delegation enjoyed sales of  $ 1.6-billion sales at the 7th-China International Import Exhibition (CIIE) in December 2024. Also anticipated is the incoming investment of $3.5-billion investment from the Pan Wah Group for a comprehensive steel mill in the Philippines. When operational in the next few years, the  mill will generate 20,000 Filipino jobs. Philippine Consul General Frank Olea in Chongqing, China, has reported ongoing consultations on the mill project as follows.

The Philippines’ Dilemma: Manufactured conflicts

The Western Powers, called by various alternative media as the “Deep State”, “The Blob” and other tags, have plunged the Philippines into a new, intensified phase of destabilization and polarization through the use of U.S. proxy assets led by Bongbong Marcos to abduct and kidnap former President Rodrigo R. Duterte  to bring him to The Hague to be detained unlawfully.  This is in gross violation of Philippine sovereignty and all principles of due process and speedy justice –

            The escalating destabilization and division in Philippine society is a continuation of the U.S. Deep State’s build-up towards a new proxy war that kicked off in 2011 with its “Pivot to Asia” to “contain China.” The new U.S. Trump government is trying to extricate itself from the Gaza and Ukraine quagmires and  shift to Asia as its renewed target. The Philippines and Taiwan have become the key U.S. jump-off point for tension and conflict against China.

In the Philippines, long-term destabilization, socio-political schism and debilitating economic crises occur because scarce resources are diverted to military build-up. This creates a mass of poor , jobless, confused, and emotionally volatile population that is easily manipulated to hate an imagined enemy. This is the Western Powers’ divide and rule strategy that seeks to drive Global South countries into conflicts – as they are now doing to the Philippines.

Since President Duterte assumed the presidency in 2016, announced our “separation from the U.S.” and sought return of the Balangiga Bells that was the U.S. trophy for its massacre of that Leyte town, the U.S. has exerted every effort to damage Duterte. U.S.-funded and -directed proxies – oligarchs controlling mainstream media, corrupt politicians, and civil society NGOs ad nauseam support the U.S. agenda to demolish Duterte and his legacy of independence.

A recent example of continuing to throw fuel to  our domestic fire is the move of a miniscule party-list group in Congress to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC), which has effectively pacified grassroots insurgency. This would really incense the armed forces. The communist fronts received their party-list accreditation in exchange for collaboration in the EDSA Dos mass mobilizations.

The manufactured West Philippine Sea (WPS) tensions are an example of divisive US-proxy cognitive warfare operation by the government, leftists, rightists, et al. These same forces are willing yield sovereignty to the alien ICC to rid themselves of former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte (FPRRD). And even as the Duterte vs. ICC brawl is playing out, the US- funded “Atin Ito” WPS civilian “assertive transparency” provocations in the disputed areas with China are starting up again.

From the right of the political spectrum, the once-young military putschist group Magdalo has been pushing for the ICC case vs. Duterte for nearly ten years with a lot of help from foreign sources. Finally, with the complicity of the PBBM government, the ICC case has materialized. With the Magdalo are the leftist groups of Martial Law vintage, including  Karapatan, National Union of Lawyers of the Philippines (with ICC local hire Atty. Conti), et al.

Behind all these leftist-rightist fringe groups are the multifarious US Deep State funding channels, from USAID to the more disguised Caritas International, Misereor International, etc.  Supporting their black propaganda is the entire gamut of Philippine mainstream and social media networks funded by US-linked local oligarchs and direct US “regime change” funders, such as the  NED, Omidyar, Soros Open Society Foundation, etc.

We provided this backgrounder on the Philippine situation to help the public understand why sovereignty is fundamental to our nation’s ability to rise above the quagmire: the US Deep State will keep targeting any national leadership that makes  genuine effort to address the fundamental challenges to Philippine society. The U.S. interferes in Philippine governance, through the  oligarchy’s exploitation of the economy and the control of politics through corrupt politicians beholden to the US Deep State and the oligarchy. This is why they have targeted Duterte.

   

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