LOS ANGELES — After his participation in the two-day US-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Rancho Mirage, California, President Benigno S. Aquino III made his way to this city on Tuesday, Feb. 16, to speak to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council (LAWAC).
In the forum entitled, “The Philippines and Security in East Asia,” Aquino covered topics such as: reforms during his presidency, the maritime dispute in the South China Sea and the outcomes of the US-ASEAN summit.
LAWAC President and CEO Terry McCarthy said that it was timely to have the president join the council’s dinner during his working visit.
“When we found out that the president was coming here for the summit with the other ASEAN leaders, we said, ‘could we invite the president?’” McCarthy told the Asian Journal. “The US has very close relations with the Philippines. It’s a good country for us to have programs on and we’re delighted to have the president.”
While introducing the president, McCarthy told the audience that two years before Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated, he gave a speech before the LAWAC.
President Aquino said he has returned “to share how we are harvesting the fruits of sacrifice — that of my parents, but more so, that of millions of Filipinos who stood for freedom during those dark days” of martial law.
One of his administration’s efforts has been the fight against corruption, he shared, citing examples of the arrests of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and notable senators involved in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam.
“Our administration has spared no one. Now, my predecessor in the presidency is under hospital arrest facing charges of plunder. Senators once deemed untouchable are also facing cases after the alleged involvement in the scam of massive proportions,” he said.
In terms of the economy, Aquino said that 7.7 million Filipinos have risen above the poverty line and that the unemployment rate has significantly dropped.
“We have achieved the lowest unemployment rate in a decade. We have experienced the fastest six-year average economic growth since the 1970s,” he remarked.
When asked about job opportunities, Aquino noted the abundance in the country, as indicated by the classified advertisement section of the Manila Bulletin.
“I don’t want to praise myself but that is a serious suggestion. Look at it and see how many people are needed for not very menial jobs or very heavy jobs and the demand is again, normally, as a ‘very urgent,’ ‘urgent,’ ‘immediate,’ etc. as an indicator of opportunities for you,” he said.
All of the accomplishments, he said, have transformed the country’s reputation as the “Sick Man of Asia” to “Asia’s Bright Spot.”
No arms for sea conflict
Moreover, the Philippines is currently embroiled in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, which was one of the topics covered during the US-ASEAN summit.
“We have zero ambitions in terms of arming ourselves with our own weapons of mass destruction,” Aquino told the LAWAC audience. “We have no plans of trying to come up with some sort of deterrents against the military might of that superpower.”
He added that “yet, like all nations, we have to defend our rights” in a legal and peaceful manner.
Challenging China’s nine-dash line claim over the sea, the Philippines in 2014 filed an arbitration case against Beijing before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands.
The Philippines is expecting the court to issue a final ruling by May, and Aquino is hopeful that it will be in the country’s favor and that China will be pressured to abide.
“Given enough time and sensibilities to the Asian concept of ‘losing face’ perhaps we can get them to be more reasonable in their actions towards the smaller countries around the periphery of the South China Sea or West Philippine Sea,” Aquino said.
During the US-ASEAN summit earlier this week, countries agreed that territorial disputes should be resolved peacefully; however, they did not reach a common stance on the conflict.
During what was perhaps his last visit to the United States as president, Aquino also met with business executives, received an honorary degree from Loyola Marymount University and spoke before the Filipino-American community in Southern California before departing for Manila.
