By Adolfo Quizon Paglinawan

 

Part 4: An old order gives way to a new one, reshaping global geopolitics

One midweek Spring afternoon at DuPont Circle, I shared a pot of Irish tea, French croissants and matching Abernethy butter and Manchego cheese with Benedicto David, press counsellor of our Embassy in Washington DC, discussing the burning issues in faraway homeland the Philippines.

Before our diplomatic assignments, he was bureau chief of the National Broadcasting Corporation in Manila, one of the top three networks in the United States.

I threw him a Q: “Ever wondered why our nation is caught in a vicious cycle, as we keep repeating mistakes in our history?”

Ben sprang back with a jest that would be so glued in my mind that I used it as the title of my first book:

“We Filipinos have a problem for every solution.”

Present app

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz exposed our despicable unpreparedness for an oil and gas supply crisis. 

Worse, it also revealed that our government soaks in problems for every solution and no nook and corner of the executive branch is excepted.

This became evident when senators questioned the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on the need to seek the United States’ permission to import oil from Russia.

“Time is of the essence and we needed the oil yesterday. If we ask permission, that will obviously delay the delivery of oil supply,” William Gatchalian asked.

Last month, Philippine Ambassador to Washington, D.C., Jose Manuel Romualdez was even gloating he was able to broker a waiver from such sanction, today he again is requesting the US to extend the waiver to three months.

          But what floored me was during the hearing, DFA Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro pointed out that there is an existing United Nations sanction that can only be lifted by the United States.

The Philippines Daily Inquirer quoted her saying, “There were sanctions imposed by the United Nations and only the United States can lift or exempt those sanctions. Therefore, our Philippine Ambassador in Washington DC, particularly Ambassador Babes Romualdez, has been negotiating with two [US] departments – Department of State and Department of Treasury,” Lazaro said.

Ouch! Lazaro is referring to a UN’s 2022 sanction on trade with Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, which is non-existent.

          Filipino international law expert Melissa Loja was quick to point out from her post in the University of Copenhagen where she is currently a postdoctoral fellow:

“Secretary Lazaro is misinformed. There is no UN Security Council sanction on Russia.”

A simple AI verification indicated:

As of now, the United Nations Security has not issued any action sanctioning Russia’s oil exports related to the Ukraine conflict.  

While the UN Security Council can impose sanctions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, particularly, Article 41, which allows measure such as trade and financial restrictions and asset freezes for the purposes of maintaining and restoring international peace and security, Loja added, “that would have been ridiculous as Russia is a permanent (council) member who can veto any such sanction.”

Historically, the Council has applied sanctions to North Korea, Iran, and Libya, but this required unanimous approval by the five permanent council members – US, UK, France, Russia and China.

While the UN itself has not imposed specific sanctions on Russian oil, other actors however have taken such measures on their own:

The Unites States has issued executive orders and sanctions against Russian oil companies and related shipping actors to reduce revenue that is funding Russia’s war in Ukraine. https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2777

The European Union, G7 countries and Australia have implemented embargoes on Russian crude and refined oil, with monitoring systems to prevent circumvention, including transshipments, and the so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers.

Price caps on Russian crude, backed by coalition members, aim to limit Russia’s income from exports, without direct UN involvement.  

This distinction highlights the difference between multilateral global governance via the UN and coalition-led sanctions outside the UN framework, which presently governs the international approach to Russian oil.

Are we still a colony?

Be that as it may, the need to ask permission from the US was criticized by Senator Imee Marcos, saying that neighboring countries, despite the sanctions, have already directly reached out to Russia.

Marcos asked Lazaro: “The other Asean countries who recognized the sanctions and respected the US’ wishes went directly to Russia and dealt with them. Why are we still so scared? What is this, why is it all Washington? Are we still a colony?”

But Lazaro insisted that we are simply following the procedures of the US State Department as requested by the United Nations.

“It is a UN resolution… It was vested in the State Department and Treasury Department of the US to lift that exemption or waiver of that Russian oil that will be given,” Lazaro reiterated.

The Sierra Leone-flagged tanker Sara Sky delivered about 700,000 barrels of high-quality crude from Russia’s ESPO pipeline, with Petron — operator of the country’s only refinery — listed as consignee, after a temporary easing of US sanctions. The cargo arrived a day before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared a national energy emergency as global oil prices surged amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz.

Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Sharon Garin also voiced the concerns of private oil companies, in relation to the sanctions.

“Our private companies don’t want to buy unless it’s lifted because the US might go after them. So, they wanted a clearance before buying. We just follow the diplomatic channels.” Garin said.

Loja confirmed, “The Philippines is forced to comply because of the secondary sanctions on companies operating in the Philippines that would deal with sanctioned Russian companies.”

Lazaro said, “If we pursue as with the private sector or the DOE, then there’s a possibility that sanctions might just be imposed. But she assured that it is “just a matter of time” as the Philippines is already in discussions and negotiations with the US.”

Yet, the question nags. Why wasn’t this anticipated? Lazaro should have taken the initiative when she was appointed to the Cabinet. And why are we again engaged in “band-aids” at this late hour?

Tbis is a Damocles sword hanging over our heads.

We have strong leverages on the US that we can draw strength from, namely de-Mutualizing our Defense Treaty, re-Visiting our Forces Agreement and de-Enhancing our Defense Cooperation!

Echoing Imee, why are we still behaving like an American colony? What brought us to this canine devotion? What did this administration pawn to Biden and Trump that we are behaving like hostage to a descending superpower at that?

This definitely violates our national security and compromises our patrimony!

Gatchalian stressed: “Our interest now is to secure as much supply as possible regardless of where it will come from… The only point now is that we needed the oil yesterday.

“If Russia can guarantee us supply for the next 60 to 90 days, we should take that instead of asking permission…

“Let’s exhaust all available options so that we can do it immediately because time is of the essence.”

White paperTop of Form

As we speak, retired Philippine Coast Guard Commandant Joel Garcia issues a call for national solidarity:

“The country must immediately adopt a comprehensive strategic plan anchored on multiple scenarios, each with clearly defined courses of action. Preparedness is not optional. It is a duty of governance.

“The government must now convene a national security summit, bringing together all national leaders in government, opposition, business, and key stakeholders, to forge a unified program of action. Without unity of effort, strategy collapses and our nation will surely pay the price.”

The appeal comes as an offshoot of a white paper that traced the history of Philippine claims to the “West Philippine Sea”, from Tomas Cloma’s “Freedomland” adventures in 1947, to the present.

It assessed the implication of the US pivot toward the Indo Pacific, as well as shares insights on President Donald Trump’s rogue behavior and dysfunctional policies.

The 74-page paper concluded by offering short to long-range options that could break the impasse and allow our two countries to create conditions needed for peace, stability and the sharing of the rich resources in the West Philippine Sea.

It was authored by retired foreign service officers who were urged by Ambassador Clemencio Montesa to put together the ideas and proposals on the WPS issue discussed in the DFA Retirees’ Viber Chat Group.

Contributors to discussions from November 2025 to January 2026 were Ambassadors Raul Rabe, Jose Syjuco Jr., Nelson Laviña, Generoso Calonge, Jesus Yabes, George Reyes, Victoria Bataclan, Lamberto Monsanto, Lourdes Morales and Virgilio Reyes Jr.

The following takeaways were raised:  

• The 2016 Arbitral ruling, despite allowing some entitlements did not declare that the “West Philippine Sea” was ours alone.
• It is time to take a less entitled attitude and seek to settle pending issues with Beijing through a continuing dialogue that could lead to easing tensions in the WPS.
• The proposal for joint exploitation of the oil and natural gas resources in the Reed Bank area as well as the planned memorandum of understanding between the Philippine and Chinese coast guards could be initial steps towards a rapprochement policy.
• An arrangement on joint protection of the natural reserve on Scarborough Shoal would be another.
• A concept of a sphere of security, advanced by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University as a framework for preventing wars between the four leading world powers—the US, China, Russia and India, where each of stays outside the neighborhood of the others, in order to avoid a nuclear war.
• The attempt by NATO to penetrate Russia’s sphere of security has resulted in the devastation of
  Ukraine and the loss of large parts of its territory without any visible gain. The Europeans have not accepted the fact the Russians are winning in a big way with no exit strategy in the horizon. This is exactly the situation that the Philippines might face if it gets sucked into a war between the US and China, particularly as it relates to the recovery of Taiwan which is a core interest of the PROC.
• The US and its European partners no longer control the world’s political and economic destiny because their total population accounts for only 12 % of global population. The BRICS countries, founded in 2010 by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, whose total population represents 54.6% of the world’s inhabitants will soon be the main drivers of global economic growth. Among the ASEAN member countries that have already joined BRICS are Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Sadly, it is not yet on radar screen of the Philippine leadership.

  More takeaways

The paper acknowledged that many nations are starting to doubt the principles and values that the US stands as it violates international law with impunity in attacking Venezuela and Iran.

The threats of Mr. Trump to annex Greenland a territory of Denmark, a NATO ally, and Cuba are brazen acts that make a mockery of the rule of law, the white paper added.

It is also observed that as a descending superpower, the US has increasingly relied on surrogates in Europe, the Middle East and Asia to share the burden of pursuing its foreign and defense policy objectives.

Notably, in Europe it has subcontracted the conduct and financing of the war in Ukraine to the Europeans. In the Middle East, it has depended on Israel to extinguish regional fires even as that country continues to suppress and starve the Palestinians. In Asia, it expects Japan, India and Australia to be its main backers as the Philippines and Taiwan are being used to counter Beijing.

It is whimsical, nay delusional, to still consider the United States as a reliable partner.

It is in this context that the retired ambassadors admonish our nation’s leaders to chart and implement an independent foreign policy that will genuinely protect not just our sovereignty, territorial integrity and in the final analysis, our national survival.

Conclusion

Our leaders run our country recklessly, in a cyclical syndrome because we have a serious deficit of critical thinking especially at the top.

Our people have been preconditioned to the promise of elections providing better leaders at three-year intervals, gurgling the prevaricated juice of liberal democracy aped from the United States.

As we speak, this mindset that feeds on White man’s ambitions and fallacies, has not only proven disastrous for us Filipinos, but for its progenitors the Americans as well.

What we need today are evidence-based research and analysis that can greatly influence faithful democratic governance by fostering a more informed and engaged citizenry.

Pax Americana is for the birds!

Next Part: Raising the Filipino critical thinking for national survival

   

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