Since the Panatag Shoal stand-off in the middle of 2012, we have been suffering national humiliation after national humiliation in the hands of China in the West Philippine Sea.
The official line given for the resulting inaction by the National Government is our lack of military capability.
The purchase of Shore-Based Missiles from Israel was supposed to be the first major step to address that.
But now, this purchase is being shelved in favor of 81,000 helmets, among other trivial purchases that the DND and AFP top brass have in mind.
I will not even dignify the helmet purchase decision with any analysis. It will just be like rubbing salt to a national wound.
The official excuse being floated is that the missile purchase will just be "postponed", and not canceled. Which means that it will already be the responsibility of the next administration. So between now and May 2016, the DND and the AFP will still have a convenient excuse not to do something about the national humiliation that China is dishing-out to us in the West Philippine Sea. And yet, they still get to spend P6.1 Billion of the AFP Modernization Budget. It is definitely a win-win situation for them.
But for the Filipino People, the postponement of the missile purchase is just another nail to our coffin of national humiliation.
The only difference is, this time around, the nail is being driven by Filipino hands. From the highest levels of our own National Government.
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