The Fourth Perspective

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS was signed in 1982 and formally it took effect in 1994 with over 160 countries joining to date along with members of the European Union and the United Nations Security Council, including China sans the United States. The UNCLOS defined the parameters governing sea boundaries and demarcations, the rights on the use of the sea for commerce, research, environment protection, mining, extraction of marine life and exploration of the seabed among others. The philosophical basis of the convention, in the words of the preamble, is to “contribute to the realization of a just and equitable international economic order which takes into account the interests and needs of mankind as a whole and, in particular, the special interests and needs of developing countries.” The convention declares that the deep seabed and its resources are the “common heritage of mankind” and may be mined only “for the benefit of mankind as a whole, irresp...

Manila Bulletin  – Thu, Jun 5, 2014 The government is crafting contingency measures should tension between China and the Philippines ratchet up in the West Philippine Sea………… A friend almost blurt into laughter when he saw this headline, then slowly it faded... and he shook his head in disbelief. His face turned a shallow but a painful smile, presumably triggered by aghast and frustration. The Chinese invasion is characterized by threat and intimidation, occasions of direct assault on Philippine marine resources and nationals is becoming a norm, and it has been going on for years. The Chinese utilization of resources from the sovereign territory is continuing and becoming larger day by day. Now after all the years of Chinese occupation and rape of Philippine resources, here comes this  government pronouncement that finally, they are “eyeing” and about to craft a contingency plan if things get sour with China. It is much easier to dismiss the st...

BVR or Beyond Visual Range, Stealth, Over the Horizon, GPS, Countermeasures, Fire and Forget, Radar Homing are just but some of the prevalent characteristics of advance weaponry and its delivery system that could render dogfights obsolete, and less viable to be a part of primary strategy and may be viewed as a secondary tactical option. Accordingly, it may relegate to be the least as a priority for consideration when procuring weapon’s delivery system like fighter jets.  An aerial platform that has the aforementioned mode and characteristics of operation regardless of speed and size can pose as a serious threat even against late generation fighters. If procurement budget is a major constraint, e mphasis need be placed primarily not on the fighter jets capability to fly at supersonic or hypersonic speed, but rather on its ability to detect threat at far distances; to launch and employ its weapons at supersonic speed or at far distances; and to sustain utilization without break...

It is unclear where the word “Tong” had originated, but in the Philippines it is a slang adapted as part of the vernacular referring to fee, commission or share in terms of money for favor, service or the tolerance of activities that crisscrossed the borders of legality and morality. It may equate to protection money, grease money or kickbacks. The recent Philippine "pork barrel" scam that allegedly involves hordes of elected and appointed government officials had resurrected the usage of the slang “tong” in mass media and the public at large as an  expression of abomination. Senators were called “Senatong” while Congressmen were labeled as Tongressman. Except for the few high profiled members of the legislative body, majority choose to keep silent amid the scandal. Their silence resonates not only on the issue of the kickbacks but also on the current situation of great national importance, the invasion of the Philippines. Generally, there is noth...

The following is an adaptation of an excerpt from the series of lectures delivered by Mao Tse Tung in 1938 at the Yenan Association for the Study of War of Resistance Against Japan at the height of the second Sino-Japanese War from 1937-1945 at a city in North Eastern China. The lecture seemed to have included a question and answer segment where Mao Tse Tung had laid out his strategy to counter the Japanese occupation of China until the former’s defeat at the end of the 2 nd world war. It was a war fought by China as an underdog against the Japanese atrocious expansionism. The irony of that event in history is that China has now assumed the role of the Japanese conquistadors which it had fought during that war.  The semi-literal translation presumably from Chinese into English is maintained in this adaptation; the word China is replaced by the word Philippines; while Japan is referred to as China instead. Some places and events deemed inapplicable were excluded, and in some...

If the physical is a manifestation of consciousness that originated from a greater source, then parents being physical and a manifestation of that greater consciousness are one conduits of that consciousness. Since a child is an extension of a parent’s consciousness, through pure love and genuine affection, their positive consciousness is borne by the child in his existence while in the propagation and projection of his own.  But if a child will reject and rebel against the parents which are the source of positive consciousness, if he will stand firm in youthful arrogance and misconceived pride, when he shut the flow of that positive consciousness, he will erase its protective mantle; he will create an imbalance and inflict upon himself a curse. What shall prevail and dominate is the negative consciousness existing in his midst. His vision will be blurred and confusion will cloud his mind; his life will be in disarray, misfortunes will befall him, his str...

The Philippine legislature is besieged with allegations of corruption both in the upper and the lower house. As the sun set and rise, new names would shine into implication in the web of conspiracy that defrauded the republic and the people for nearly a decade. Maybe some of those implicated who vehemently denied participation are truly innocent and maybe most of them do indeed deserved indictment. The absence or deficiency in evidence does not prove innocence, rather it only abates prosecution. While the legal requirement accepts nothing less than preponderance to beyond doubt, the moral dictum demands beyond reproach. There are one... two... and many in the chamber's population who invoked innocence and belied knowledge but that would constitute ignorance and incompetence which is supposed to be preferable over guilt. In all ways, the chambers membership were composed and now are consisting of varied characters, some are guilty, some are ignorant, some are incompetent and mo...