‘Lose-lose’ propositions Written by Jonathan de la Cruz

‘Lose-lose’ propositions

• Written by  Jonathan de la Cruz
• Monday, 16 July 2012 

The death of Dolphy and outcry over the continuing Metro Manila traffic mess have diverted public attention from two developments which the administration is seriously mishandling to our eventual damnation. Instead of delivering the country from potential conflicts which can only negatively impact on our development efforts and weaken our defenses in the face of the lingering global economic crisis, P-Noy and his crew may have exacerbated the situation even more with their inexplicable moves. We are referring here to the rebuff we got at the recently concluded Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Pehn and the defiant and provocative statements coming out of the MILF General Assembly in Maguindanao attended by senior Cabinet members.

Instead of arriving at ‘win-win’ solutions on both counts, we ended up with “lose-lose” propositions which can only mean more trouble in the years ahead.

In the case of the recently concluded 45th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting which for the first time did not issue a joint communiqué, the Philippines insisted and was left by its lonesome stridently insisting that the specifics of the months old standoff between us and China and later, China and Vietnam, over disputed parts of the Scarborough Shoal and the Spratlys Group be incorporated in the issuance. Even Vietnam which had earlier protested China’s auctioning of certain exploration contracts in the disputed area apparently begged off at the last minute and did not join the Philippines in the enterprise which should have given us a way out of the impasse..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/commentary/item/1581-%E2%80%98lose-lose%E2%80%99-propositions