By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
If rumors are true that Alice Guo, the mayor stripped of her post in Bamban, Tarlac, is a spy for the Chinese government, then she continues to score points for her motherland.
She’s already under arrest, facing charges before the Department of Justice and the Ombudsman, yet she continues to wreak havoc in the mechanisms of government.
Take for example how she has stolen the precious time of our senators from their prime duty of lawmaking.
Many bills for the welfare of Filipino citizens and businesses are pending in the Senate — all put on hold to attend to the tall tales this woman tells.
Meanwhile, over in the West Philippine Sea, China is doing exactly what Guo allegedly represents — playing the long game of distraction and domination.
At least 207 Chinese vessels have been spotted swarming the region, breaking records even after a deadly storm swept through. The strategy is simple: flood the area with ships and intimidate the Philippines into submission as if might make right.
A bully will always be a bully, no matter how they dress it up, though, and Beijing cannot hide behind its narrative of protecting its territorial sovereignty.
What it has been doing really is pushing its argument by way of brute force and number, showing the world it is undeterred by international law.
The 2016 tribunal ruling that invalidated Beijing’s claims is clear, but it chooses to ignore and disregard the proven truth.
It’s very much the same tactic Guo seems to employ — distraction and chaos to cover up a deeper agenda.
As our government officials allow themselves to be distracted by her antics, it’s high time they focus their attention back on the waters where China seeks to do the same. Both are nasty threats in plain sight.
* * *
SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email firingline@ymail.com or tweet @Side_View via X app (formerly Twitter). Read current and past issues of this column at http://www.thephilbiznews.com