Philippine First Vice President Daniel Teguina paced restlessly as he, the Second Vice President Samar, and the Cabinet awaited the arrival of President Mikaso in the presidential conference chamber. Everyone was tense and worried. A few were terrified. All had rushed to the presidential palace immediately after being advised of the disaster in Palawan.
Finally, President Arturo Mikaso entered the conference chamber. Unlike the others gathered, who were dressed casually, Mikaso was in a dark-gray business suit, polished shoes, and a tie. His appearance was so crisp that a few wondered silently if he hadn’t just dressed.
“Gentlemen…” Mikaso said, his old body moving as quickly as it could into the room. “Please take your seats.” The elder statesman stiffly took his at the center of the oblong maple conference table and the other Cabinet members immediately sat down.
“As you know, a terrible tragedy has occurred,” Mikaso began. “Less than thirty minutes ago, a patrol task force from this country was attacked by a large Chinese naval patrol off the coast of Palawan.”
The Cabinet members exchanged looks of complete shock. They’d been advised of a major sea disaster, but given no details. Murmurs went around the room.
Teguina immediately spoke up. “A Chinese naval patrol? Judging by the state of our naval force, I assume we were beaten badly?”
Mikaso nodded sadly. “We were indeed. We’ve suffered serious losses—”
“Naturally,” Teguina interrupted. “What do we have to fight with? Outdated, expensive, useless American equipment that we were suckered into buying.”
Mikaso glared at Teguina. “Daniel, now is hardly the time for editorializing. There are far more serious considerations at hand.” Mikaso looked at the men gathered in the room and said, “Gentlemen, the worst part of this confrontation, which involved two of our F-4E fighters, was that the Chinese launched a nuclear missile against our force.”
Gasps went around the table, followed by immediate cries of outrage which echoed off the walls of the conference room. Everyone was talking at once until Mikaso rapped his knuckles on the table. “This has not been confirmed by us yet,” Mikaso said, “but the detonation was detected by American and Japanese monitoring stations.”
Again everyone started talking at once, their voices reaching a crescendo of questions of concern: What about the fallout? The food and water supplies? How could the Chinese have justified a nuclear-tipped missile? Did it mean this was a prelude to a full-scale invasion? Question piled upon question.
Mikaso tried to calm them down.
“We have no definite reports of an invasion,” Mikaso said, “although the Chinese warships are in Ulugan Bay on Palawan, being guarded by our Army.”
“But how did this happen?” demanded Second Vice President Jose Samar. “Civilized nations don’t just set off nukes!”
Mikaso nodded in agreement. “One would think. However, this was a battle between our forces and theirs. They ventured into the neutral zone, were going to attack a drilling platform, and we opened fire.”
“What was a drilling platform doing there anyway?” Teguina asked, even though he knew. “Those islands are not for exploration or drilling. The Chinese have long considered that their territory, even though we don’t. Why were we provoking the Chinese?”
“We weren’t,” Mikaso said pointedly. “Exploration is allowed within ten miles of the boundaries of the zone, Daniel. Learn your treaties. If you did, you’d know that the Spratly Island agreement not only allows that, but also prohibits a deadly force to patrol the zone. Armed warships must stay on their own side. We’ve seen how the Chinese violated that in the past — the previous incident was just a few months ago. I authorized our forces to protect themselves if the Chinese prepared to attack again, and that’s what they did.”
Teguina shook his head. “Why don’t you tell them who we were really protecting? Unless I’m mistaken, it was an
More murmurs went around the room.
“That is beside the point. It’s a Philippine company and they had every right to explore the island and the resources on it.”
The two men stared at each other.
“What about fallout?” another Cabinet member demanded.
Mikaso nodded. “That is our first priority. Daniel, you will immediately dispatch National Guard forces to Palawan to assist in the recovery efforts. In fact, I think the people of Palawan would appreciate seeing you there to help in the effort. Use all available transport assets and—”
