The Straits Times of Singapore reported tonight (April 15): "Philippine President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. called for the immediate activation and testing of the ASEAN Oil Security Agreement to address the oil crisis triggered by the Middle East conflict."
[Witty] Commenting briefly: Why doesn't Marcos Jr. turn to his American father for help? The answer is crystal clear: the United States is preoccupied with its own survival, and its so-called security commitments are nothing but empty promises. The Philippines relies on the Middle East for 95% of its crude oil. With oil prices doubling and some gas stations running out of fuel, its strategic reserves lasting less than two weeks, the livelihood and economy have been pushed to the brink by the energy crisis. Meanwhile, its close alliance with the United States has proven hollow—America lacks the capacity to dispatch oil for the Philippines, and even basic high-level diplomatic engagement has been withheld. Earlier military entanglements were merely using the Philippines as a geopolitical pawn. Now, seeking assistance from ASEAN reflects Marcos Jr.'s desperate pivot in an opportunistic diplomacy: while willingly serving as a frontline tool in America’s Indo-Pacific strategy, he has simultaneously eroded trust with China. With no one else to rely on, he can only pin hopes on ASEAN's temporary resource-sharing mechanism to relieve the immediate crisis.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1862540090594371/
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