Recently, I was intently listening to a joint budget hearing of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation with the Committees on Foreign Relations, Transportation, and Finance in regard to the upcoming appropriations bill. As we know, budget proposals have to be defended by authorized representatives and experts of agencies concerned. This time, the hot topic, of course, was China’s ownership claims and maneuvers in the South China Sea, and the capability and needs of the Philippines’ Coast Guard and the country’s Armed Forces to protect the Philippines’ sovereignty and rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

What shocked me no end was when Sen. Robin Padilla began to question the invited agency heads/representatives of the Dept. of National Defense (DND) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) who pointed out that while the PCG was a uniformed civilian force, the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG), was not. Padilla insisted that all coast guards, per international law, were civilian, and falsely claimed that in the past six years (meaning under the Duterte administration), there had been no escalation of tension in the South China Sea (or the West Philippine Sea).

Apparently, Padilla did not know or was simply ignorant of the following facts and their essential importance or implication to the Philippines:

*China’s structure was different. The China Coast Guard (CCG), since 2018, has been under China’s Central Military Commission. It used to be under Beijing’s State Oceanic Administration.

*Despite Duterte’s passive foreign policy on China, Chinese vessels swarmed the Philippines’ EEZ and harassed Filipino fishermen repeatedly.

*In June 2019, a Chinese fishing vessel ran into and sank a wooden Philippine fishing vessel near Recto (Reed) Bank and left the area with the 22 crew members still in the water.

*In April 2021, a civilian vessel carrying the news team of ABS-CBN was chased down by the Chinese Navy.

*China has a strong military presence now in South China Sea, with military outposts and airports in reclaimed occupied islands very close to the Philippines (the Paracel, Spratlys, and Scarborough Reef).

Marine Expert and Law Professor Jay Batongbacal, who participated virtually in this hearing, stated that no such international law that defines a coast guard exists. He also stressed that China began reclaiming islands and shoals in 2014, constructing military installations during the past administration, clearly long before the Americans came over under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

Padilla was oblivious to the detailed explanation of experts and defense officials that focused on the escalation of tension in South China Sea by China, not the United States nor the Philippines. Padilla insisted that the Philippines doesn’t need the Americans who flew military planes while the Filipinos were doing resupply missions in Ayungin Shoal where a small military unit was deployed in the sunken ship MV Sierra Madre. He asked the highest ranking defense official present whether they can do resupply missions without the Americans.

The resource persons emphasized that whether or not the Americans were there, they were ready to defend the country till the end. Defense Undersecretary for Strategic Assessments and Planning Ignacio Madriaga added that the presence of American Navy planes was not illegal because the US was exercising freedom of navigation of overflight and the US wasn’t violating international law as they were there to observe the function of maritime domain awareness.

The lengthy, detailed arguments of the Marine Expert and lawyer expressed in a very respectful way were met simply with non-acceptance by Padilla, whose arrogance and ignorance were openly exposed to the world. His shallow responses and continued insistence on his anti-American stance without genuine and intelligent rebuttal clearly pointed to Padilla’s very poor preparation in a very important discussion such as this one that involved the country’s sovereignty and security.

The Filipinos have to wait five more years having a senator who is comparable to a noisy shallow water. Filipino voters should wake up and admit that popularity and good looks should never be the first consideration when choosing their leaders! It is so sad that even after negative reaction by many Filipinos to Padilla’s “performance,” in this particular Senate hearing, Padilla continues to arrogantly boast, “Kung bobo ako, bakit ako ang number one Senator?” (If I were a moron, why did I become number one Senator? [Padilla was referring to garnering the most number of votes among the winning Philippine Senators in 2022.])

Well, my answer is, the Filipino electorate thought Padilla will be like the tough hero he used to portray in the movies. Unfortunately, real-life political leadership requires much more than memorizing scripts and punching villains in front of cameras. It requires a lot of thinking and genuine action for the people one represents. As a Senator, Padilla represents the Filipino people and the country as a whole. Their interests and the Philippines’ national security should be paramount on his list. It is unfortunate that Padilla acted like he represents China. Aside from his lack of knowledge about Philippine-American Relations, he obviously was unaware of China’s real intentions in the South China Sea.