Are Filipinos benefiting on the military exercises with the U.S?

My daughter Alex, 9, Grade 4, asked me how to pose questions in a mock press conference after she became a member of the editorial staff of her school newspaper.

Sabi ko ito ang pagtanung: "What is your take on your visit to Japan?" (If the interviewee is an imagined President Duterte).

Author (extreme right) sports with the helmet and vest used by the U.S Marines who manned theHighMobility Artillery Rocket System  (HIMARS) they used during a military exercise with
Philippine military.

Then I told her some of my “anecdotes” interviewing dignitaries;

ME: Senator Pacquiao what is your stand on K-12?

PACQUIAO: (who was sitting): I don't want to stand, I want to sit. I don't want K-12, I like K-9.

ME: How's the violence here in Maguindanao?

MAGUINDANAO GOVERNOR ANDAL AMPATUAN: (Who finished only Grade 3) Violin? I could not even play guitar. You asked me about violin goddammit!!! You want me to kill you?

***

I saw recently a column that reads the Philippines did not benefit to Balikatan or military exercise with the U.S.

I disagreed of course.

Here were the advantages of having military exercises with a super power based on my conversation with the U.S Marines at Clark Air Base in Pampanga early this year that manned the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
ME: How can the guided rockets of HIMARS hit with accuracy the Chinese warships if one of this is posted at one of the islets of the Philippines at the South China Sea?
US MARINE 1: They would be GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) guided.
ME: Oh, just like what the C.I.A backed Colombian government had done with the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) guerillas when the Cessna propeller powered plane dropped a GPS guided 500- pound bomb at the guerrillas whose fire they used in cooking food betrayed them in nighttime.
ME: Is the price of this monster (Himars) $5.1 million apiece?
MARINE 2: Naah, its $6 million apiece now.

ME: Philippine government should buy some these so we can sink those ships of the Chinks.

***

Here’s what I read recently from Diplomat.com, the Bible of foreign policy makers:

"Vietnam’s defense expenditures were the fourth largest in Southeast Asia, behind only Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand; all wealthier or significantly larger economies. It was the first year that Vietnam’s spending surpassed Malaysia’s. The defense budget is an estimated $5 billion in 2016, and it is expected to grow to $6 billion by 2020”.

Despite being allowed to fish, Ph fishermen's leader hopes Chinese Coast Guard leave

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

Chinese Coast Guard ship in the Philippines' territorial water.
Photo Credit: Bangkok Post

"Nakaka pangisda na Kami sa Scarborough," declared by Jowe Legaspi, leader of the Filipino Fishermen who used to be driven out by the Chinese Coast Guard in the disputed Shoal.
"Sana umalis na sa"Karburo" mga barko nila ng lubusan Kasi insultong malaki Sa atin iyon dahil nasa pintuan Lang natin Sila. Hayaan na natin yung mga barko Nila sa Spratly, malayo iyon!" he said.
Legaspi, who lives in the coastal village of Infanta, Pangasinan led the 15 fishermen who petitioned the Chinese encroachment at the United Nations in 2015.

MY COMPLETE Q & A with Jowe Legaspi on the return of the Filipino fishermen at the rich fishing ground at Panatag Shoal can be accessed by copying and pasting at Face Book the following:

 https://www.facebook.com/mortz.ortigoza/videos/vb.569334707/10154780131354708/?type=3&theater

READ MY OTHER ARTICLE: China allows Filipinos to fish at Scarborough Shoal - Fisherman