SUMMARY
I can’t remember who exactly said that “Life is lyrical in its ideal form, tragic in its fate, but comic in reality.” This saying is what comes to my mind when I try to compare the condition of our country’s relationships with China before the Spanish period at the same time brand them this time around.
I imagine that we had a “lyrical” trade relationship then, and a “tragic” fate now due to our ongoing dispute in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), which has gone up to its most serious level so far when the Chinese Coast Guard and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy resorted to a ridiculously cheap and shameful act to stop our forces from resupplying our military outposts at the Ayungin Shoal last June 17.
Aside from its mental and emotional harm, the incident did not only incl…