[Letters] On the Mark

Chuck S. responds to "Vietnam And The Philippines: Allies Against Leviathan" which reader Elaine E. forwarded to him.

Excellent article, thanks for forwarding.  

Bello's seven points under his "Flaws in the Balance-of-Power Approach" are on the mark, in my opinion, and included one that had not occurred to me: the undertain postures and capacities of the U.S. and China to act in the future depending on economic and other domestic factors (as well as the U.S.'s maddening military disasters elsewhere and the continued ruin they are causing).  

Bello's first two points in this section, which I have discussed with Vietnamese friends on various occasions, are minimized by the Vietnamese—and I'm not sure why. Are they naive? Do they forget so quickly what happened 40 years ago with a huge U.S. presence here, and how we turned our backs and walked away from the Saigon regime after promising otherwise?  

So maybe Bello's warning will be accepted more seriously than my insistence that the Vietnamese should not rely on us. Maybe they'll pay attention to his point that "the United States cannot be counted on to support the Philippines and Vietnam’s territorial claims."  

His second warning, that a United States military presence is counterproductive and might lead to a superpower conflict, marginalizing the territorial question and its resolution, ought to be a no-brainer. Again, the Vietnamese seem to be looking the other way, hoping it ain't so.

I'll send the article around to a few key friends. Thanks for passing it along.

[Letters] Heartened by worldwide response to kababayans

In response to the editorial "Our Common Humanity":

I am heartened by the response of Filipinos and their friends in the U.S. and all over the world in helping our kababayans back home. A heartfelt thanks also, to Positively Filipino for the updates and for giving us the information on how to help. I heard that the response to AARP’s call for help was enormous and is now over $500,000.  AARP is providing the full match, which brings up the contributions through AARP to over 1 million dollars.  As more help pours in the additional funds will also be given to the typhoon victims.

Best,                                                                                                                                               
Xenia Montenegro

[Letters] Politicians can't get their act together

In response to the editorial "Our Common Humanity":

Many thanks for your insightful message re devastation in the Philippines. It is so disappointing that the politicians can't get their act together and use the pocketed pork barrel funds for their fellow country men who are suffering the worst tragic disaster in Philippine history.  Disgusting also is the blame game between the national government and the local government even wanting to remove the mayor of Tacloban. 

Here in Vienna there are many fund relief efforts on behalf of the survivors to ease their suffering. Our worst fear is the orphaned children who are the ones who suffer the greatest loss. Our prayers are with them. I personally want to be sure that my donation will go directly to the survivors and not through intermediaries - politicians.
 
Sincerely Yours,
Gloria Roces