Ph. Should Buy Those Cheap Oil from Russia

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Almost every week prices of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene in the Philippines soar. 80% of the runaway inflation that bust the pocket of poor Filipinos was blamed on the ballooning prices of crude due to the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Recently, incoming National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos advised President-elect Ferdinand “BBM” Marcos, Jr. to maintain the third world country’s stance of neutrality in connection with the belligerents in Europe.
“We will take a neutral stance. Iyon naman talaga ang ginawa natin from the beginning and we have a very robust relationship with Russia and Russia might be able to supply us with our much-needed oil and gas,” Carlos answered in the Laging Handa briefing poser.

CLOSING IN TO P100. A gas station in Osmeña Boulevard, Cebu City displays the latest fuel prices after oil firms announced another round of price hikes on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. / AMPER CAMPAÑA

She said the Philippines should shun emulating the United States, Australia, and their allies in the European Unions in inflicting economic embargoes to Moscow.

Many political spectators would disagree with the perceptive Carlos – geez, the advantage of having a honcho at the NSA with doctorate in geo-politics than appointing retired generals -  that the United States will vigorously oppose the plan of the Philippines to buy cheap crude from Russia. It is now almost P100 per liter for gasoline and diesel from the P40 liter average before the war.

As of press time, Russian crude is $35 per barrel while Brent roves at $120 per barrel, according to CBSNEWS.Com.

China and India have been buying the surplus oil of Russia as the United States, Great Britain, and Canada have out-rightly stopped procuring it because of the clarion call of the United States – that bankrolled with almost $54 billion at present Ukraine to fight Vladimir Putin.

The 27 E.U member - countries however have not been able to agree on the embargo.

What Carlos and Marcos will be doing are calculated brinkmanship in case of the economic retaliation by the U.S that can harm our export industries and import of necessary products for our consumption and components of our exports to her and allied countries.

For me however the situation of the Philippines is sue generis compared to Afghanistan, the Balkans, Belarus, Burma, Central African Republic, Cuba, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, and Zimbabwe that were sanctioned economically by Uncle Sam and his allies.

The other punishing tool the U.S can harm uncooperative countries is the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). CAATSA  is a U.S law that imposed sanctions on Iran, North Korea, and Russia. But it is used too against other states that buy products from these three rogue countries.

The flirting of the wily President Rodrigo Duterte with China caused the U.S to increase their military aid under his administration.

Since 2015 the Philippines is a recipient of P48.6 billion (U.S $1 Billion) of military assistance in the entire Indo-Pacific Region.

 Duterte’s pitting the U.S and China can be likened to other countries fueling the capitalist’s U.S to the Commie’s Soviet in the Cold War where human rights violators’ dictators friendly with Washington were not punished.

Even post-Cold War, Democratic Party elected U.S President Joe Biden did not scourge Duterte on his human right’s violations records where thousands of Filipinos died in the latter Drug War.

 The Philippines will weather her procurement of crude to Russia without the U.S punishing Manila with sanction.

Uncle Sam will not withhold its military assistance to this poor Southeast Asian country otherwise the latter becomes China’s ally and lake and chokes Taiwan and the U. S5.3 trillion yearly commercial sea lane of countries like South Korea, Japan, and the U.S that benefited on it.

Chinese warships can mine if not torpedo those commercial ships that ply the area – just like what could happen in the Malacca Strait and what had happened in the English Channel where Nazi’s Germany’s torpedoed through their submarines the convoys of merchant ships that ply the U.S and Great Britain.

This balance of power’s conundrum was no different to the Cold War where countries who have strategic geographical locations like Japan were recipients of the billions of dollars’ yearly military and economic aid from Uncle Sam.

Here’s former presidential writer, paleo-conservative political commentator, op-ed writer, politician, and broadcaster Patrick J. Buchanan on his excellently written book titled The Great Betrayal (damn, I bought it for a song at Book Sale):

“The State Department proposed unilateral U.S concessions on 56 percent of Japanese imports – including glassware, chinaware, optical goods, automobiles, sewing machines, surgical instruments, cameras, and footwear”.

Buchanan said that allowing the Japanese to have a share of the U.S market with less if no tariff imposed on her means “national security became the ultima ratio, the final argument, in every trade dispute. As the free world’s leader, America needed allies and strengthen them for the struggle was through “trade, not aid”.

If America wants the blithering poor country Philippines not going to the dogs, she supplies us with cheap oil to tame the debilitating inflation that keeps soaring otherwise allows us to buy that dirt cheap $35 a barrel oil from the Ivans.

READ MY OTHER BLOG:

The Lethal, Costly Weapons of a Cobra

MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

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I am a twenty years seasoned Op-Ed Political Writer in various newspapers and Blogger exposing government corruptions, public officials's idiocy and hypocrisies, and analyzing local and international issues. I have a master’s degree in Public Administration and professional government eligibility. I taught for a decade Political Science and Economics in universities in Metro Manila and cities of Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Dagupan. Follow me on Twitter @totoMortz or email me at totomortz@yahoo.com.