'US-MADE missile system in Ph legal, beyond reproach,' said Defense Secretary Gilbert 'Gibo' Teodoro Jr. in an interview.'It is not targeted against specific countries. Instead, it is targeted against security risks, threats and challenges.'Thus, did Gibo recently defend the deployment of the United States-made mid-range capability, also known as the Typhon, missile system in the Philippines, saying it is completely 'beyond reproach.'Resorting to crude metaphor, Teodoro stressed that the Philippines is 'a sovereign state, not any country's doorstep.'According to him, any deployment and procurement of military assets related to the Philippines' security and defense fall within the country's own sovereign prerogative and are not subject to any 'foreign veto.'He cited that Philippine enhancement of defense capabilities 'in accordance with the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept' is undertaken on the basis of the Philippines' own 'national interest' and is in accordance with the country's 'independent foreign policy.'But then, he betrays a losing stand by suddenly turning defensive, pointedly saying, 'It is not targeted against specific countries. Instead, it is targeted against security risks, threats and challenges.'If defense is not targeted against any specific adversary, what are those 'risks, threats and challenges'?At all times, basic to Sun Tzu's 'Art of War' is this dictum: 'Know yourself, know your enemies, a thousand battles, a thousand victories.'How can you defend against, much less win over, an enemy you don't know?Gibo is no pushover defense secretary. First appointed to that post in 2007 — in precisely that period when the United States began executing its reputed pivot from the Middle East to the Asia-Pacific — he was the youngest ever to be named the country's prime defense chief, aged 43. This distinction he shares with Ramon Magsaysay, who was plucked out of the Philippine Congress by the US (thus the American Guy) and made defense chief to address the pressing need of quelling the Soviet-backed Huk rebellion.At any rate, in both the cases of Gibo and The Guy, there is the pestering American annoyance, albeit apparent, in appointment to the defense portfolio. Gibo was in semi-retirement, quietly enjoying a sojourn in Europe when made to fill in the post occupied by Carlito Galvez in an OIC capacity; none among the top officials of the military appeared to live up to American standards.In that period when top generals appeared to be divided on who to follow, Gibo just got what it took for a unifying factor: AmBoy.Just look at his credentials:Mincing no words in blasting the Communist Party of China (CPC), he said the party '... should cease their saber-rattling and stop their provocative actions in the West Philippine Sea if it truly intends to reduce tensions and instability in the region.'China should stop interfering in other countries' internal affairs, withdraw their illegal presence from the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and adhere to international Law.'While the CCP is criticizing the modest capability development of the Philippines, they are continuously building up their nuclear arsenal and ballistic missile capability, sponsoring criminal syndicates and subversive organizations beyond their shores and are unwilling to uphold human rights in their own country.'Contrary to his earlier claims, Gibo's acquiescence to the deployment of the Typhon in the Philippines is in furtherance of the US position of geopolitical antagonism with China. This is a universally accepted fact.What is America's Pacific Century about, as elaborated by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the 'Foreign Policy' website in 2011, but American domination in the Asia-Pacific?Clinton said, 'The future of politics will be decided in Asia, not Afghanistan or Iraq. And the United States will be right at the center of the action.'Therein lies the core of the problem with the deployment of the Typhon missile launch system in the Philippines. It's not for Philippine defense but for American assertiveness in its confrontation with China. This was amply ventilated in President Barack Obama's speech at the 2012 East Asia Summit: 'While we are not a party to the (South China Sea) dispute, we are a resident Pacific country — and a guarantor of peace in the Asia-Pacific region.'China certainly sees all this from the correct perspective, thus reacting accordingly.Through the Chinese Embassy in Manila, Beijing has slammed Teodoro for his statements lambasting China and the ruling CPC.'We firmly oppose and strongly condemn such statements which are nothing but unjust accusations filled with ideological bias, and based on bloc confrontation and the Cold War mentality.''Once again, we remind the Philippines to heed the call of regional countries and their peoples, and have the Typhon missile system promptly pulled out as it has publicly pledged and stop going further down the wrong path,' said the Chinese.That's actually putting it in a diplomatic way. Sheer decorum certainly prompted the embassy to word its response in not so blunt a manner. Otherwise, it would have simply gone straight to the point, lecturing Gibo to stop genuflecting each time the US yodels on security among nations.Gone are the days when armaments and wars were the sole protection of nations. As a consequence of World Wars I and II, Europe faced self-destruction if it persevered in the traditional security notion of one country minding only itself to the exclusion of others. The Helsinki Final Act of 1975 succeeded in bringing together the warring blocks North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Warsaw Pact which agreed on 'indivisible security' among nations. Within the concept, no national security is good unless such security is good for the entire body of nations in Europe — one and indivisible.Thus did come about an era of peace in Europe.It so happened, however, that NATO had the misfortune of having the United States as a treaty ally. In 2010, the application by Russia for membership in NATO was flatly turned down by US President Bill Clinton. Thence began the crack in European peace — which grew accordingly as the US intensified its anti-Russia maneuver. Beginning 2014, the US schemed to gain NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine, the only two other European countries that were not yet members of the block. With Finland, Sweden and Norway having already collectively contributed more than 2,000 kilometers perimeter on the eastern border, the ultimate NATO membership by Ukraine would complete NATO encirclement of Russia. President Vladimir Putin beat the US to the draw by launching his special military operation which over the past two years have degenerated into the war that to this day continues to devastate Ukraine.Now, to the point, Gibo. Twice, you have been defense secretary. How could these clear trends in the evolution of world security as one and indivisible have escaped you?Certainly, you should realize that China would not hesitate doing to the Philippines what Russia did to Ukraine, all in the name of self-preservation.But then again, through all the current difficulties, China has exercised exquisite forbearance.As President Xi Jinping announced in one Boao Asia Forum, 'No state shall strengthen its own security at the expense of others.'Actually, those words could really amount to a warning: 'Behave.'
