Critical Discourse Analysis of Philippine Broadsheet Columns

PAMANTASAN NG LUNGSOD NG VALENZUELA
Tongco St., Maysan, Valenzuela City
A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS ON PHILIPPINE BROADSHEET COLUMNS
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty of the
College of Education
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Secondary Education
Major in English
Cherrylaine S. Autor
Benedict B. Diaz
Dimple B. Poralan
March 2019

Introduction
Traditionally, the society is getting information out of oral and written texts
whereas the best example of these texts giving out information are news that can
either be printed or reported (Cruz, 1997). Newspaper, according to Iftikhar (2013), is
a periodical publication containing news regarding current events, informative
articles, diverse feature, editorials, and advertising. Newspapers are split between
tabloids and broadsheets. Broadsheets being larger than tabloids contain more
serious papers (Rogers, n.d.). The gap between tabloids and broadsheets is too vast
especially in terms of its content, style of writing and their aim. Thus, the purpose of a
newspaper is to convey, as efficiently as possible the current information to a
particular audience, since according to Rajnish (2007), newspapers thing about the
society at large by taking care of the interest in the first stance through the use of
one’s writing skill. Goddard (1997) stated that writing is a form of image-making on
which it depends on the suppression of undesirable associations and the promotion
of desirable ones. Hence, writing is only one of the tools of journalism and not the
one that is commonly rated highest by newspapermen (Rajnish, 2007). On the
contrary, this is even more true of columns, the main goal of which is to attract the
reader and convince them on the stated stance of the columnist. Columns, a part of a
newspaper, help the readers to become informed citizens in the social interactions

occurring in the society by putting it into an editorialized material (Barley, 2017).
Hence, columns are something personal to its author that makes it different from the
other parts of a newspaper. However, though it is an article made of one’s view in a
particular issue in the society, it is much different with an editorial article. The major
distinction between the two is that an editorial article is written by the editor-in chief of
a publication and is made by the whole publication’s perspective regarding a specific
event. While a column is primarily created by just one writer who has one specific
section in the newspaper wherein one’s column should be put in the published
material together with a column name.
Columns, like the other parts of a newspaper, Cruz (1997) classified them into
two types: (1) types of columns according to purpose and (2) types of columns
according to content. Types of columns according to purpose have 10 classifications
which are: (1) Editorial column; (2) Reader's column ; (3) Business column; (4)
Sports column; (5) Women's column; (6) Art column; (7) Entertainment column; (8)
New products and inventions column ; (9) Personality column; and (10) Reviews
column. On the other hand, types of columns according to content are: (1) the
Opinion column; (2) the hodge-podge column; (3) the essay column; (4) the gossip
column; and (5) the dopester's column.
Being classified as the most powerful part of a newspaper, a column is also
classified as the hardest part to build up for it requires a more condensed information
about a particular news (Cruz, 1997). Columns’ message is always very strong, both
for the readers and people who are connected to the writing in any way. To write a

good column, it requires more than just the ability to articulate an opinion. The
opinions must make sense, provide insights, and be convincing that it can teach,
praise, attack, appeal, or entertain a particular group of people (Cruz, 1997).
Moreover, columns have different types. Whereas, the basis of the columnist itself
was according to the purpose of the type of their column to convey their certain
ideology.
However, van Dijk (1998) stated that ideologies are not merely sets of beliefs,
but socially shared beliefs of groups. These beliefs are acquired, used and changed
in social situations, and on the basis of the social interests of groups and social
relations between groups in complex social structures. Thus, identifying these can be
associated with discourse whereas it can be understood by an analysis.
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), according to van Dijk (2006), has initially had
an involvement and a motive by the attempt to grasp the meaning of the significant
social issues occurring in a particular place whereas, CDA can make a contribution
to understand the role of language in a critical social or political analysis. Hence,
according to the study of the language used in a text, the study of linguistic structure
‘beyond the sentence,’ and the study of social practices and ideological assumptions
that are associated with language and/or communication can be considered as a
CDA (Hamilton, H.E., Tannen, D., & Schiffrin, D., 2001). Moreover, van Dijk (2001)
emphasized that CDA further studies the way social power, abuse, dominances, and
equality are enacted, reproduced, and resisted by texts and talk in social and political
in which power can be associated with language. The power of language not only

means language in the service of power; language can also undermine power. And
above all, as language, it possesses itself power of a very special kind. The relation
of language and power is ambivalent (Schwietring & Weiß, n.d.) Hence, CDA
constitutes and transmits knowledge in organizing social institutions (Meyer &
Wodak, 2009). But, according to Mogashoa (2014), CDA requires a long term
analysis of fundamental causes and consequences of the raised issues.
Therefore, the study compels the relationship between the text, the society, and
the culture. Likewise, the study wants to know the structure, properties or other
strategies of text, talk, verbal interaction or communicative events (Van Dijk, 1993).
Thus, social interaction is the main focus of CDA which can be seen in written or oral
discourses that people are able to contact with.
In addition, CDA is a field that is concerned with studying and analyzing written
and spoken texts to reveal the discursive sources of power, dominance, inequality
and bias (van Dijk, 1998). Moreover, Fairclough (1995) defines CDA as a discourse
analysis that aims to systematically explore often opaque relationships of causality
and determination between (a) discursive practices, events and texts, and (b) wider
social and cultural structures, relations and processes; to investigate how such
practices, events and texts arise out of and are ideologically shaped by relations of
power and struggles over power; and to explore how the opacity of these
relationships between discourse and society is itself a factor securing power and
hegemony. However, Discourse Analysis (DA) has been defined by Tannen (n.d.) as
an analysis of language “beyond the sentence” which can be interchangeable with

CDA that also studies beyond the texts. So, the major distinction between DA and
CDA is that DA is widely used only for the study of languages in texts and its
contextual meaning while CDA is the analytical discourse as a research to study the
social action of dominance. On the other hand, these actions can be seen in such
texts imposing practices in the society. The best example of it is a narrative being
published that can be read by anyone concluding these communicative materials.
However, according to Li (2016), CDA was already developed by Roger Fowler in
the late 1970’s on where Fowler (1979, 1986) stated that he attempts to unveil the
hidden ideologies behind language, by combining linguistic analysis with relevant
social background, and believes that people from different strata tend to use different
linguistic expressions in the same social context. The particular set of linguistic
features, on one hand, shows the distinctive ideologies of the language user.
Henceforth, this present study wants to address an analysis on the textual
structure of Columns about West Philippine Sea Dispute on how to analyze a text,
according to Locke (2004), namely: (1) the prosodies used in the text that allows for
the rhythm and pattern of sound of poetry and language to be exposed; (2) the
contextualization signals that reinforce an authority in the form of reiteration; (3) the
cohesion on where the stitching of the text together as a whole that encompasses
the usage of conjunctions, pronouns, demonstratives, ellipses, adverbs, and the
repetition of ideas and phrases; (4) the discourse organization involving the ways in
which sentences are combined or united in an effective way of the operation of the
conformity in the paragraphs themselves; and (5) the thematic organization that

subsumes the motifs strengthening the structure of the discourse. In addition, the
study also wants to identify the ideologies presented by examining its textual
structure as well as it should be analyzed by looking on the structures of ideologies
presented by van Dijk (2015).
Thus, this present study aims to create a Critical Discourse Analysis on
Philippine Broadsheet Columns including the top three most popular Broadsheets in
the Philippines--Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star, and Manila Bulletin.
Statement of the Problem
The main concern of this present study is to create a Critical discourse analysis
on Philippine broadsheet columns.
In line with this objective, stated below are the problems that will be addressed
throughout the study:
1. What are the common linguistic cues used in the broadsheet?
2. How are the Philippine broadsheet columns structured?
3. What ideologies can be determined based on textual and structural analysis
of broadsheet columns?

Methodology
Data Gathering Procedure
Fig 2 Step-by-step process in the whole research
Reviewing and collecting different
columns from three (3) major
broadsheets in the
Philippines--Manila Bulletin,
Philippine Star, Philippine Daily
Inquirer--about West Philippine Sea
Dispute

In collecting data, the researchers conduct a focus group discussion wherein
they give ideas to where they can possibly gather data. CDA was first introduced to
the researchers for the discussion. Reviewing some principles of the collection,
analysis, and management of qualitative data help researchers to be more interested
in doing research in their practice to continue their learning in this area. The strength
of this strategy is that, it relies on permitting each researcher to agree or disagree
with each other to provide an insight on how the researcher figure a thing about CDA,
and about enable development about the understanding about it. The researchers
delved into the meaning of CDA, find past studies about it and develop the
information they have about this study. Through discussing, the researchers have
decided to find or gather newspapers, articles, and journals for this study. They
looked for examples on the internet and go to different Universities' Library just to get
enough information.
Figure 2 showed the way the researchers gathered the data needed to comply in
this paper. In conducting this study, the researchers gathered opinion column articles
having the theme of West Philippine Sea dispute on the top three (3) famous
broadsheets in the Philippines which are Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippine Star,
and Manila Bulletin (Philippine Primer, 2006) on actual newspaper itself because the
researchers have observed that some things are not same with what is on the actual
newspaper and with what is on their websites. For example, some thesis statements,
defined by Cruz (1997) as a sentence that summarizes the problem and the
argument in the whole article, are excluded in their websites so that, the researchers

have concluded to primarily use authentic broadsheets in the research. However, the
researchers first find and review on the internet the copies of the articles for them to
easily identify the primary details of an article which are the title of an article, name of
the writer of the article, and the date of the publication of the article. Then, they will
now grab a hard copy of the broadsheet where and when the columns were
published. Since the researchers of this present were not able to get their own copy
that the other articles were published for a couple of years already so they went to
the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela Library where they photocopied the
articles from The Philippine Star and Manila Bulletin only because the said university
has started collecting broadsheets from Philippine Daily Inquirer just this June 2018.
That is the reason why the researchers directly go the office of Philippine Daily
Inquirer to conveniently collect and complete copies of articles. However, the said
office does not photocopy newspapers so that the researchers decided to just take
photos of it then print it out for the analysis per se.
As the researchers were able to analyze the textual structure of the texts and
ideologies represented with it are identified using van Dijk’s Ideological discourse
analysis. On this process, van Dijk were able to present the ideologies and identify it
by noticing its structures. Hence, the researchers identified the type description of
ideology does it fit based from following descriptions by van Dijk (2015) are as follow:
1. Self- Identity description - It primarily answers the questions: Who are we,
where do we come from, what are our properties, what is our history, how are
we different from others, what are we proud of; but boundary statements with

respect to others are present such as: Who will be admitted, what are the
criteria of admission, who may immigrate, etc. So, this basically represents
positive descriptions. Thus, this description will be the case for members of a
particular social strata whose identity is being threatened and marginalized or
in a protective way, for those in more important groups whose power is
threatened.
2. Activity-descriptions - This basically responds to questions such as: What are
our tasks? What do we do? What is expected of us? What are our social roles,
etc.? Hence, this description defines what a particular group do as
professionals and activists.
3. Goal-descriptions - This typically focuses on the (good) goals of the activities
of the particular group such as informing the public or being a journalist and
seeking the truth or educating the people, because activities make ideologies if
they have (positive) goals.
4. Norm and Value description - In this description, the important things to note
are what a particular group finds good and bad, right or wrong, and what are
their actions and goals to try to respect or achieve. Hence, they may
emphasize their special focus on truth, factuality, and reliability in their
accounts of the facts.
5. Position and relation descriptions - this particularly describes a specific
group’s identity, activities, and goals that are relevant to other groups. Hence,

it is expected in this description the special focus on group relations, conflict,
polarization, and derogation.
6. Resource description - This initially talks about the existence and subsistence
of particular groups on accessing general or specific resources, or basically
focuses on the resources in an intergroup conflicts. Nevertheless, it is
expected to elaborate semantic strategies to defend (or attack) privileged
access (the ‘rights’).
Then, van Dijk descriptions of ideology are modified by researchers as they are
able to identify the ideologies presented in each columns, following Fairclough (1992)
and Halliday’s (1994) Hallidayan grammar as cited by Locke on 2004 to functionally
explain the reason why a certain ideology must be identified in a text as well as
support van Dijk’s claim about ideologies.
Results and Discussion
1. What are the most common linguistic cues used in the broadsheet?
Text Analysis
Table 1 Frequency of the most common linguistic feature used in the text
Linguistic Features Frequency
Conjunctions 11, 001
Pronouns 6, 486
Auxiliaries 5, 906
Repetitions 5, 495
Prosody (Pauses) 3, 453
Intensifiers 1, 134
Ellipses 33

Listings 23
As seen on Table 1, the most common linguistic feature used in the text are
conjunctions wherein it is defined as words that join two or more words, phrases, or
clauses (Calderwood, 2003). It can be concluded that the connection of the text is
observable as presented with its frequency. Also, van Dijk (1983) argued that
discourses have a general characteristic having connectors such as conjunctions
play an essential role in a discourse analysis. Thus, it is a part of a sequential
structure, apprehending grammaticalness in which anything is syntactically possible
as long as unity among the sentences are observed.
Also, it is followed by the existence of pronouns which was then defined by
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman on 1999 as these are words (such as I, he, she,
you, it, we, or they) that are used to “replace a noun or a noun phrase within a text”.
Thus, it can be observed that pronouns are used to occupy the same position of a
noun or a noun phrase (p. 18) hence the doer of the action is hidden through the use
of these.
Another common linguistic feature is in the form of auxiliaries wherein according
to van Dijk (1998a), it probably showcases the usage of passive voices in terms of
verbs. Hence, Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) defined passive voices as
a type of voice that can hide the agent or the doer of the action in a particular
sentence or statement. Thus, it primarily reveals that the one responsible for the
action has being hidden as well like what is mentioned about pronouns above.

On one hand, repetition of words, phrases, or ideas is also present in the texts
wherein Locke (2004) defined the repetition of words to reinforce authority wherein
they are cues signaling mechanisms applied by the speakers to denote how they
mean what they utter. Hence, van Dijk (1988a) argues that it aptly denotes that the
speaker (or in this case, writer) gives emphasis to particular words which greatly
provide the power to make authority.
On the other hand, prosody as defined by Locke (2004) is a structure that
looks on the ways in which the words, phrases, or sentences of a text are said to
assign the speakers pauses which allows idea oppositions of the language to be
exposed and contested. Also, prosody is responsible on how a speech was
articulated by the speaker that adds impact to its meaning.
As added by Locke (2004), the prosody are the pauses evident on a human’s
speech wherein these pauses are sort of mood indicators since according to Manell
(2007), prosody is the study of the tune and rhythm of speech and how these
features contribute to meaning. Moreover, according to Battrick (2011), punctuation
marks are pause indicators wherein punctuation marks serves as the provider of the
extra information that every reader needs for them to secure the tone of the text and
deepen their understanding.
Another linguistic cue that is seen in the texts is intensifier wherein these are
adverbs or adverbial phrases that signals the degree of intensity of the following
word (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999) wherein according to Bowers (1963),

intensifiers indicate the degree to which the speaker’s attitude toward a concept that
deviates from neutrality.
Lastly, the least used cohesive devices are ellipses and listings wherein ellipses
are (1) the act of leaving out one or more words that are not necessary for a phrase
to be understood, (2) a sign (such as …) used in printed text to show that words have
been left out (Trask, 1997). Meaning, there can concluded that the articles often
leave out phrases to be understood instead it completes the details. While, listings
are the simple series in a article that a writer used to identify points (Locke, 2004).
Therefore, by looking at its sum, the data disregard series to identify points instead,
they indirectly said their claims.
2. How are the Philippine Broadsheet columns structured?
Structural Analysis
A. Conjunctions
Table 2 Most used conjunctions in the gathered data
Conjunctions Total
And 2336
That 453
But 278
Or 177
For 148
If 141
Because 67
However 61
Which 53
So 32

As seen in the table 2, the most used conjunction is and wherein, according to
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999), it is used to connect elements of the
same grammatical weight as in the form of coordinating conjunctions. Hence, this is
used to add ideas , if not, to to relate or coordinate one idea to the other as Locke
(2004) defined it to achieve cohesion.
Line1: … in Asia-Pacific and its arms trade.
Line 2: Building the Philippines’ “minimum deterrence capability” in territorial feuds
with China and ensuring a US shield against external aggression are just sound
bytes.
Line 3: Defense partnerships and air/sea access with the Philippines, Japan, South
Korea, Australia, Thailand and other countries are refitted for Pentagon’s
geostrategic goals.
- From the article Bases accord will boost US arms sales by Bobby M. Tuazon
(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Hence, as seen in these examples, it can be seen that there are parallelisms in
the following subjects of the examples wherein the first line, the noun phrases,
Asia-Pacific and its arms trades; the second line, Building the Philippines’ “minimum
deterrence capability” in territorial feuds with China and ensuring a US shield against
external aggression; and the third line, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, Australia,
Thailand and other countries are put into parallelism. Hence, it becomes the “glue”
that make the text together or in case of the example, the idea together (Gee, 1996
in Locke, 2004).
Line1: …anchored on commerce, connectivity and culture to strengthen ties…
Line 2: The battle of China and India for supremacy…
Line 3: …to nurture strategic partnerships with Beijing and New Delhi, other global
powers, and multilateral mechanisms to increase their trade and commerce, and
achieve peace, stability and development.
Line 4: …anchored on “shared values and common destiny.”

Line 5: …living in an “age of change, disruptions and shifts that comes only rarely in
history.”
Line 6: Asean and India share an interest in peace and security in the region, and
an open, balanced and inclusive regional architecture.
Line 7: …Indian trade passes through the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca.
Line 8: With its military and economic capabilities…
Line 9: …the strength of Asean and India’s combined population of 1.8 billion…
Line 10: …to become the world’s fifth largest, and middle-class households in
Southeast Asia will double to 163 million.
- From the article, Harnessing soft power for regional security by Dindo Manhit
Hence, like what has been mentioned earlier in this chapter it can be seen that
there are parallelisms and connection in the following subjects of the examples
which according to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) coordination, which
are the form of the conjunction and, is the process of joining constituents.
B. Pronouns
Table 3 Most used pronouns in the gathered data
Pronoun Total
It 623
That 494
Its 350
We 285
This 277
He 225
There 174
Our 158
His 151
I 121

As seen in the table above, the most used pronoun is it, it is typically used to
pertain to an object being talked about. Hence, this is most probably visible to
substitute the thing it refers to, if not, so for hide the thing being talked about instead
of saying it directly. Therefore, Fairclough (1992) and Halliday (1994) as cited by
Locke on 2004, this cohesion or connection of the arguments by the use of pronouns
can be then called as substitution which replaces the doer of the action by a word
that can pertain to anything.
Line 1: And that is because, whether they like it or not, the participants…
Line 2: …accountable to their national constituencies for what they commit at these
international gatherings.
Line 3: On such occasions, they may be seen engaging in warm and courteous
pleasantries…
Line 4: The text of the agreements they actually sign at the end of these meetings…
Line 5: …before any summit takes place. They are worked out in technical working
groups…
Line 6: …in the world in which they have made themselves at home.
Line 7: … artifacts of the modern capitalist economy; they are not bound by the code
of patriotism.
- From the article, Nation-states and the challenge of globalization by Randy David
As seen in the given examples, the most reiterated pronoun is they which
basically talks about a group of people (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999).
Line 1: … improving their massive flood control…
Line 2: … having their dikes breached…
Line 3: their engineers…
- From the article, Philippine Rise and Manila Bay by Rina Jimenez-David (Philippine
Daily Inquirer)
It can be observed that the most recurring pronoun is their whereas, according to
Merriam and Merriam (2018), their is related to the possessor, agents, or objects of

the action. Thus, this is also used to emphasized who did an action. Even though this
is used as a determiner, primarily, it emphasized its subject
Line 1: …who have heard his lectures in different schools across the country…
Line 2: His gift is equal parts heart and craft; a lifetime of integrity and excellence
becomes visible through his lectures, even his casual remarks.
- From the article, Remove China’s illegal structures by John Nery (Philippine Daily
Inquirer)
As seen in the table above, the most used pronoun is his, it is typically used to
pertain to a male being talked about. Hence, this is most probably visible to
substitute the thing it refers to, if not, so for hide the thing being talked about instead
of saying it directly. Therefore, Fairclough (1992) and Halliday (1994) as cited by
Locke on 2004, this cohesion or connection of the arguments by the use of pronouns
can be then called as substitution, like what has been above, which replaces the
doer of the action by a word that can pertain to anything.
C. Auxiliary
Table 4 Most used Auxiliaries in the gathered data
Auxiliary Total
Is 596
Has 379
Have 372
Be 358
Was 312
Been 311
Will 310
Are 265
Can 213
Were 195

As seen in the table the most used auxiliary is is as a be-verb wherein it reflects
the person who does the action as well as the carrier of the tense and the number of
subject (Celce-Murcia & Larsen-Freeman, 1999) then, it can be concluded that on
the analyzed data, the most recurrent auxiliary showcases that what is in the subject
carries a present tense and primarily talks about a singular subject.
Line 1: … we have been so humiliated by China’s bully tactics
Line 2: The United States has deeper concerns reflected in the “pivot to Asia” policy.
Line 3: … the United States has ironically given more priority to military initiatives…
Line 4: … America has no territorial stake in the Spratlys…
- From the article, US motive in bases revival not the Spratlys by Bernie Lopez
Wherein the most used auxiliary in the sample text is has/have in which
according to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999), have is used as a weaker
negative advice.
Line1: It is now officially the Philippine Rise, although there is a bit of awkwardness
in using the new designation.
Line 2: It is hard to defy habit, even if only for place names.
Line 3: The underwater plateau is, without doubt, extremely valuable.
Line 4: If it is damaged, the already thin supply of fish…
Line 5: That is a wise and responsible thing to do.
Line 6: The underwater plateau is not much of a tourist attraction.
Line 7: …his constituency that there is much to gain from the more conciliatory
diplomatic tack the leader has taken.
Line 8: …Pyongyang is wary of coming under intense pressure in the run-up to the
summit to commit…
- From the article, Benham by Alex Magno (The Philippine Star)
As seen in the lines, the most used auxiliary is is wherein according to

Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1991), it clearly shows a general truth as well as
its tense as present. This primarily constitute that the writer wants to say something
that is happening today and is not already done.
Line 1: …the West Philippine/South China Sea is incontestable.
Line 2: It is right, they incontestably belong to the Philippines.
Line 3: …an arrogance that is frightening and disgraceful.
Line 4: Xi Jinping is the Hitler of today.
Line 5: Well, 1947 is not “generations,” it’s not even one.
Line 6: Some 280 years of Philippine proof of ownership is generations, four of
them.
Line 7: If they were, why is its only map dated 1947?
Line 8: History is incontestably on the Philippines’ side.
Line 9: It is recognized by all nations that no one owns the seas…
Line 10: If this is how China will act into the future, a country that has no respect for
others…
- From the article, China must respect others by Peter Wallace (Philippine Daily
Inquirer)
As seen in the lines, the most used auxiliary is is wherein according to
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1991), it clearly shows a general truth as well as
its tense as present. This primarily constitute that the writer wants to say something
that is happening today and is not already done. However, Celce-Murcia and
Larsen-Freeman (1991) added that auxiliaries in a sentence followed by a main verb
is considered having a passive voice on where it clearly focuses on the receiver of
the action instead of the doer. Thus, this primarily constitutes that in line 9, the doer
there, which is all nations, is not being highlighted instead the antecedent of the
pronoun it.
Line 1: Would Duterte get it?
Line 2: A lot would depend on his understanding of China’s diplomatese.
Line 3: China knows that Duterte would want to hear about train projects in

Mindanao…
Line 4: …that party would forfeit its right to a copy of the survey.
Line 5: As events would have it, the Philippine Senate got wind of and questioned
the secret pact…
Line 6: …he says he would no longer allow the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard
jointly to patrol “disputed waters” with the US Navy.
Line 7: Duterte adds that he would patrol only the territorial seas…
Line 8: Bulging in his coat pocket would be an international court ruling favoring
Manila against Beijing’s spurious ownership claim over the entire South China Sea.
- From the article, Beijing ‘aid’ always has strings attached by Jarius Bondoc (The
Philippine Star)
As seen in the lines, the most used auxiliary is would which shows a high degree
of possibility according to Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999) as well as its
necessity in a statement.
Line 1: …Philippine society, corrupt to the core, will have to yield to whoever is
ready to rule by superior force.
Line 2: …a tipping point that will give clues if the second half of Duterte’s term will
see an economic takeoff or a political slide downhill.
Line 3: We may change our ideology but will not be able to alter geography.
Line 4: …Filipinos will just have to join or watch the Duterte legion…
Line 5: …he will get by his usual forceful method.
- From the article, Playing high stakes in game with China by Federico D. Pascual Jr.
(The Philippine Star)
As seen in the lines, the most used auxiliary is will wherein according to
Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1991), it clearly shows high degree of certainty
in terms of probability which clearly manifests high level of logical certainty.
D. Repetition of words, phrases, and ideas
Table 5 Most repeated words, phrase, or ideas
Repetition Total
China, Chinese, Beijing 973

Philippine/s, Filipino, Manila 660
Spratlys, Panatag, Philippine rise, Scarborough shoal, Benham
rise
308
South China Sea/West Philippine Sea 109
United States 101
ICC 87
Extended Economic Zone 79
Fishery (Fish/ing/es, Fishermen) 69
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 42
International 41
As seen on the table, the most repeated word in the texts being analyzed is
China, wherein this primarily shows that an emphasis is greatly given. Hence,
according to Locke (2004), repetition demands emphasis at the same time creates
link to the other parts of the discourse. Thus, cohesion works as Fairclough (1992)
and Halliday (1994) as cited by Locke on 2004 discussed about wordings wherein
this shows different perspectives of a particular idea as shown in the most recurrent
words in the table 4. 3. 4. Hence, by the the wordings about (1) China, Chinese, and
Beijing; (2) Philippine/s, Filipino, and Manila; (3) Spratlys, Panatag, Philippine rise,
Scarborough shoal, and Benham rise; (4) South China Sea/West Philippine Sea; and
(5) Fishery (Fish/ing/es, Fishermen), it shows that the writers of the texts have their
own perspectives in terms of presenting their opinions even the one they are talking
about is of the same idea.
Line 1: China is committing the same mistake Germany and Japan did…
Line 2: With its economic reforms, China has become prosperous…
Line 3: China has shot itself in the foot.
Line 4: …benefited from the dispute created by China.
Line 5: …because of the insecurity caused by China’s bullying.

Line 6: …the inputs of China’s military-industrial complex to Chinese policy…
Line 7: …because by now China also has its own military-industrial complex.
- From the article, China’s own military-industrial complex by Hermenigildo C. Cruz
As seen in the example, the word China has been always placed to the doer’s
placement in the sentence where in the lines 1, 2, 3, and 7, these are in active voices
which clearly manifest that China, which is the subject is responsible for the action
done in the sentence. Also, the line 4 which is in passive voice, China has also been
responsible with the action done in the sentence according to the format of
sentences in passive voice provided by Celce-Murcia and Larsen-Freeman (1999).
Another is with the lines 5 and 6 which show China’s possession with the lexical
items proceeding it - in this case, bullying and military-complex building - making
China responsible again for the action done.
Line 1: …this is a matter of livelihood which they expect local politicians to
immediately address.
Line 2: The United States and China are also examples where the domestic
political environment shapes the framework of decision making in its foreign
policies.
Line 3: The Iraq invasion by the United States was an obvious result of domestic
politics.
Line 4: Today, the Obama administration is caught in a political trap.
Line 5: It is the same domestic political environment that has made both Democrats
and Republicans publicly oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement…
Line 6: …to preserve the monopoly of political power by the Communist Party.
Line 7: …consider human rights groups as threats to its political dominance.
Line 8: …between domestic politics and the international agendas of the nation.
Line 9: …domestic politics is the most critical basis for shaping their international
policies.
Line 10: This is an example where domestic politics is intertwined with an
international issue.
- From the article, Balancing domestic and foreign policies by Elfren S. Cruz (The
Philippine Star)

Wherein the most repeated word in the text is politics/political/politician. Thus, it
can be seen in the given examples that the most repeated word has been
interconnected with such words as power, critical, issue, trap, invasion, and
dominance which is truly an example of partly negation in the sentence in which
according to Heywood, it has negated sense of authority in the state, in this case,
politics.
Line 1: …to gain unanimous support for our initiatives on the dispute in the West
Philippine Sea.
Line 2: …to hope that China will make an exception in its dispute with us …
Line 3: Three things happened recently in connection with the territorial dispute in
the West Philippine Sea.
Line 4: China has a record of using force in settling border disputes with its
neighbors..
Line 5: …the Chinese seized disputed territory and then stopped their incursions…
- From the article, Aquino made right call in West Philippine Sea dispute by
Hermenegildo C. Cruz (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Wherein the most repeated word in this text is dispute/s/d. Thus, it can be seen
in the given examples that the most repeated word has been interconnected with
such words as territory, West Philippine Sea, China, and border.
Line 1: …this is a matter of livelihood which they expect local politicians to
immediately address.
Line 2: The United States and China are also examples where the domestic
political environment shapes the framework of decision making in its foreign
policies.
Line 3: The Iraq invasion by the United States was an obvious result of domestic
politics.
Line 4: Today, the Obama administration is caught in a political trap.
Line 5: It is the same domestic political environment that has made both Democrats
and Republicans publicly oppose the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement…
Line 6: …to preserve the monopoly of political power by the Communist Party.

Line 7: …consider human rights groups as threats to its political dominance.
Line 8: …between domestic politics and the international agendas of the nation.
Line 9: …domestic politics is the most critical basis for shaping their international
policies.
Line 10: This is an example where domestic politics is intertwined with an
international issue.
- From the article, Balancing domestic and foreign policies by Elfren S. Cruz (The
Philippine Star)
Wherein the most repeated word in the text is politics/political/politician. Thus, it
can be seen in the given examples that the most repeated word has been
interconnected with such words as power, critical, issue, trap, invasion, and
dominance which is truly an example of partly negation in the sentence
(Celce-Murcia &Larsen-Freeman, 1999).
Line 1: …to gain unanimous support for our initiatives on the dispute in the West
Philippine Sea.
Line 2: …to hope that China will make an exception in its dispute with us …
Line 3: Three things happened recently in connection with the territorial dispute in
the West Philippine Sea.
Line 4: China has a record of using force in settling border disputes with its
neighbors..
Line 5: …the Chinese seized disputed territory and then stopped their incursions…
- From the article, Aquino made right call in West Philippine Sea dispute by
Hermenegildo C. Cruz (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Wherein the most repeated word in the text is dispute/s/d. Thus, it can be seen in
the given examples that the most repeated word has been interconnected with such
words as territory, West Philippine Sea, China, and border.
E. Prosody

Table 6 Overall totality of Prosody from the gathered data
Pauses are the main concern of this structure wherein this is sub-divided into
three major classifications as seen in table 4.1. As also seen on the table 4. 2. 5, the
most recurrent prosody or type of pause is pregnant pause where Locke (2004)
defined, like what has been mentioned above, as a type of pause that provides
additional information about the preceding clause. Pregnant pauses are also usually
indicated by colons, semi colons, commas, or dashes whereas the dashes and
commas can function in another way depending to where it lies in a sentence.
On the other hand, pregnant pause, which is according to Locke (2004), is the
type of pauses that provides additional information about the preceding clause.
Pregnant pauses are also usually indicated by colons, semi colons, commas, or
dashes whereas the dashes and commas can function in another way depending to
where it lies in a sentence. The sarcasm on the writer’s speech was conveyed
through the use of pregnant pause in a form of a comma as evident on this example:
[The last time Beijing made $1.5 billion available in soft loans to the Philippines
(30-year repayment at 3 percent interest), we got ZTE broadband scandal.]- Riding
the Tiger by Ana Marie Pamintuan, Philippine Star
Prosody (Pauses) Total
Pregnant pauses 2473
Latter pauses 948
Emphatic voiced pauses 32

The comma indicated the pregnant pause from the sentence since it is the very
first comma from the sentence. The commas are always considered as indicating
pregnant pauses as long as it is never the last comma in a sentence. According to
Berg (2001), pregnant pauses are called pregnant because it provides another
statement that is in relation with the preceding statement. A pregnant pause
portends the forthcoming birth of another statement. Moreover, according to the
definition and exemplification of Locke (2004), if there are commas more than one in
a sentence, the last comma is no longer a pregnant pause but a latter pause. The
pregnant pause from the example was used to connect the independent and
dependent clause wherein the pregnant pause lies after the dependent clause. The
writer used the pregnant pause to add an evidence on the succeeding clause and to
emphasize the sarcasm from the preceding sentences:
While greeting the China trip with optimism, caution is always useful, with the
national interest foremost in mind.
Related to the drug war, there is an Asian proverb warning against those who
send you the disease and then sell you the cure.
As for the financing access, this is generally welcome, but it’s always good to
scrutinize the fine print. These are tied loans to be repaid, not grats, and there’s a
consistent requirement. The contactors must be Chinese, with the lending side, not
the Philippines, vetting the companies. If we end up with more Dalian-made trains
without engines, it’s the Du30 government’s lookout.
The last time Beijing made $1.5 billion available in soft loans to the Philippines
(30-year repayment at 3 percent interest), we got ZTE broadband scandal.
Moreover, a pregnant pause in a form of a dash is evident from this sentence:

[Panatag lies just 130 nautical miles (150 regular miles) off Zambales – well within
our 200-mile exclusive economic zone as defined under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on which the arbitration ruling was
based.] - Riding the Tiger by Ana Marie Pamintuan, Philippine Star
The dash is considered a pregnant pause as for this sentence since it signals
that there will be another information that is connected from the preceding clause.
However, as mentioned previously, a dash can also be a latter pause wherein it is
evident from this example:
[As in Indonesia, where Du30 avoided pleading for the life of convinced Filipina
heroin trafficker Mary Jane Veloso, the president can also be expected not to plead
for mercy for any of the Filipinos – about 70 of them – on death row in China for drug
offenses.] - Riding the Tiger by Ana Marie Pamintuan, Philippine Star
From this example, it can be seen that the dash with purple highlight functions as
the latter pause since it lies before the last clause of the sentence and after the last
pregnant pause. The example is one sentence with five clauses wherein there are
three pregnant pauses and one latter pause before the full stop which is indicated by
a period.
However, the second pause that is seen in the article is latter pause. According
to Locke (2004), this is a pause that can be observed after the pause that the
pregnant pause created. Meaning, this can be a punctuation that ends with a word,
phrase, or sentence that is being added by a pregnant pause. Hence, it can be seen
in this example:

All of a sudden, from out of nowhere, just as the Aquino (Part II) administration
struggles with the territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea, another
sovereignty issue over Sabah confronts our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS), that is
sagging the country’s image before foreign media.
In other countries, times like these are more likely to unite the citizenry rather
than provoke them to trash their leader. Here, certain politicos are trying to disparage
our leader, BS, for taking an anti-violence stand on the Sabah issue.
The stance of our Commander-in-Chief is simply to restore prudence and
sobriety in the Philippine claim over Sabah, for the simple reason that violence will
not solve anything. True, our leader, BS, says he respects the claim of the Sultanate
of Sulu over the territory that is now under the rule of the Malaysian government. Still,
according to the position enunciated by our leader, BS, over television recently, our
disputes with other countries, particularly our neighbors, cannot be resolved just
through force, and the right and honorable approach should be diplomacy first.
Down here in my barangay, the guys are just as alarmed as any politico can be
by the Malaysian military’s audacious use of fighter jets to bomb the Filipino followers
of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, but the issue over Sabah may have as much
bearing on their daily lives as … well, the plummeting meteor in Russia.
Really, it is just too way above our heads for most of us.
Thus, the critical question remains: Do we believe that sending armed men to
Sabah, whether followers of the Sultan of Sulu or the military forces of this republic,
with the aim of retaking the resource-rich territory from Malaysia, by hook or by crook,
is really the superior idea over, say, nonviolent approach such as diplomacy and
legal resolution of the cases in the international forum?
I thought so too.
What then explains the attacks against our leader, BS, for his position in trying
to avoid bloodshed in addressing the Sabah issue which, by the way, already
escalated to the use of well-trained forces and sophisticated military hardware by
one side in the conflict?
To me, in the Philippine claim over Sabah, the Aquino (Part II) administration is
just being consistent in its position over territorial disputes, such as the one with
China over the West Philippine Sea, which is, of course, “diplomacy first.”
In fact, a dissimilar approach in the Sabah claim, such as a violent confrontation
with the Malaysian people, would only weaken the Philippine stand in the other
territorial dispute with China.
In both our claims in the West Philippine Sea and in Sabah, the guys down here
simply must trust our leader, BS, to go through the peaceful processes—including
diplomatic negotiations, good offices, commission of inquiry, arbitration and resort to

the International Court of Justice.
After all, the whole darn thing is already an intricate balancing act for our
government. We cannot add to the weight that our leader, BS, has to carry.
(From Sagging Sabah by Conrado R. Banal III, published in Philippine Daily
Inquirer)
Also, it can be seen that the used marker to identify latter pauses are punctuation
mark in the form of a comma. This is basically a pause that finishes what the
additional information has been saying. For example, as in the lines: All of a sudden,
from out of nowhere, just as the Aquino (Part II) administration struggles with the
territorial dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea, another sovereignty issue
over Sabah confronts our leader Benigno Simeon (aka BS), that is sagging the
country’s image before foreign media, it can be observed that the phrase from out of
nowhere is just added to the sentence to present additional detail hence to end it up
and to continue the sentence. This is also the same with the sentence: What then
explains the attacks against our leader, BS, for his position in trying to avoid
bloodshed in addressing the Sabah issue which, by the way, already escalated to
the use of well-trained forces and sophisticated military hardware by one side in the
conflict?, wherein the latter pause became the way to end the identification of the
leader being talked about and the additional detail.
On the other hand, emphatic voiced pause was defined by Locke (2004) as a
one-word sentence or a phrasal sentence which only contains a phrase as in:

BLESS their trusting hearts, many Filipinos believe that Manila won the case it
filed in 2013 with the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague disputing the
claim of China over some Philippine maritime areas and much of the South China
Sea.
But if the Philippines won the arbitral case in July 2016, why is China still in
control of the Panatag (Scarborough) fishing ground 122 nautical miles west of
Zambales? And why are the Chinese now occupying several islands they have built
(and militarized) on reefs and protrusions in the Philippines’ 200-nm Exclusive
Economic Zone?
Was it again “might is right” at work when the Chinese grabbed the upper hand
even without going to The Hague?
What did Manila get in exchange for yielding territory, not to mention its loss of
face? Were the investments ($15-billion) and soft loans ($9-billion) that President
Rodrigo Duterte was promised during his visit to Beijing last October compensation
enough?
We were reminded of the arbitral award by an email from lawyer Mario E.
Valderrama, founder and first president of the Philippine Institute of Arbitrators. He
wrote:
“Remember Phl vs China? I think that it’s all over. China won. Phl’s adventures in
boarding the Chinese fishing vessels, shooting at a Taiwanese fishing vessel, and
initiating and pursuing the arbitration all backfired.
“As I have predicted, the arbitral award is now just a matter for academic
discussion. The discussion involves jurisdiction, tribunal bias, the appointing
authority’s possible partiality, lack of any enforcement mechanism, whether or not
China committed a tactical error in not participating at least up to the jurisdictional
stage which would have resulted to a different set of arbitrators as well as some
rather ‘strange’ rulings by the tribunal.
“Phl lost Scarborough. It was declared a ‘rock’, ergo not part of the sea and could
be acquired. China as administrator can develop it in the same manner that Phl and
other claimants can and have developed the ‘rocks’ (which include Kalayaan) that
they are administering. At most, what we have now is, per President Duterte, a
commitment by China not to develop it.
“Nobody could figure out how ‘traditional fishing rights’ could be enforced in the
territorial waters of Scarborough. If at all, Filipino fishermen could only fish within the
shoal because of China’s benevolence and subject to the rules of China.
“And the fact is, there is no such thing as ‘traditional fishing rights’ within the EEZ.
Coastal states were already allocated an area in the high seas where they were
granted exclusive economic rights over marine resources. So, ‘traditional fishing
rights’ in the EEZ would be contradictory.
“Nothing much could be done to challenge China’s development of land formations
declared as ‘rocks’. Here Phl lost – some land formations were declared ‘rocks’.
“As for the reefs within the Phl EEZ, China’s violation is in taking possession and
developing them without securing the consent of Phl. But here President Duterte’s
position is that Phl has no capability to enforce the award. Nobody came to the aid of

Phl, save for some lip service which had since quieted down.
“Except, perhaps, the US. But only with respect to its main interest – the freedom
of navigation and overflights with respect to reefs. Since reefs are part of the sea,
then they cannot be owned by anybody. They are not entitled to an air space; they
are not entitled to a territorial sea. What the US did was to fly over the reefs and to
sail well within 12 miles of the reefs.
“Before his confirmation, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was threatening to
block China’s access to the reefs. But after he took office, the rhetoric was toned
down and focus shifted to looking for peaceful means to resolve the dispute.
“So, at the end of the day, China gets to keep the militarized reefs, unmolested.”
(From A hollow arbitral win at The Hague by Federico D. Pascual Jr., published at
the The Philippine Star)
As seen in the example, the highlighted parts are not in sentence form hence it
follows its definition as presented by Locke (2004) wherein the parts are emphasized
by making it one word or just a phrase. Just as the sentence: Except, perhaps, the
US, where there is no predicate which is significant in forming in a sentence.
However, there are exceptions as in the lines: China won and Phl lost Scarborough,
because according to Locke (2004), this pause serves to emphasize parts in a
written discourse. Like the first example, it is in a structure of subject plus the
transitive verb hence making the point shorter, being emphasized. This is the same
with the second example, however it is in a simple structure of a sentence having
subject plus the verb plus the object, hence the point is also emphasized.
Thus, with these pauses, emphasis is seen in the articles as well as the binary
oppositions or the oppositions of ideas (Locke, 2004) that the pregnant and latter
pause become the one to introduce the next part of the sentence.
F. Intensifiers

Table 7 Top Ten most used intensifiers
Intensifiers Total
So 33
Really 25
Actually 25
Too 21
Very 21
Fully 23
Repeatedly 23
Especially 18
Probably 17
Highly 13
Much 12
Precisely 11
Likely 11
As seen in the table 4. 6, the top 10 most used intensifier is so, followed by really,
too, very. fully, repeatedly, actually, much, precisely, then highly.
On the other hand, intensifiers are not always indicating a deviation as much
as Burgoon, Jones and Stewart (1975) are concerned wherein according to them it
indicates the degree and direction of distance from neutrality. Moreover, Quirk,
Greenbaum, Leech, and Svartvik (1985: 589-603) classify intensifiers into two types:
"amplifiers" and "downtoners." Amplifiers are subdivided into "maximizers" such as
absolutely, completely, extremely, fully, perfectly, quite, and utterly, and "boosters"
such as badly, greatly, highly, so, well, and a lot. On the other hand, "downtoners"
consist of "approximaters" (e.g. almost), "compromisers" (e.g. more or less),
"diminishers" (e.g. partly) and "minimizers" (e.g. hardly).

Amplifiers such as maximizers are evident from these examples:
[We have trash bins in place now, which has helped a bit, but more needs to
be done for pride of place, and I sometimes think it’s a losing battle. There’s too
much of a national culture that needs to be transformed, a culture that is fastidious
about personal hygiene but absolutely neglectful of one’s neighborhood, school,
work place, and public spaces. “What are janitors for?” students protested some
years back, under another dean, when she tried to implement an antilittering
campaign.] - Pride of place by Michael L. Tan, Philippine Daily Inquirer
[True, the President has sole power to craft our foreign policy. In the case of
Duterte, he seems to have completely sidelined our foreign policy establishment
and resorted to making policy off-the-cuff and on the run. That is reckless behavior
that will not be assuring even for the new friends we hope to gain.] - Reconfiguring by
Alex Magno, The Philippine Star
[Lately though, the former Davao City Mayor has noticeably changed his
policy tack and now often mouths “it’s all geo-politics” in trying to calm down renewed
agitation to assert The Hague ruling following the increased military activities of
Beijing in South China Sea. Refusing to be called a “strongman” because he is not a
dictator, President Duterte conceded he could not allow a situation where the
Philippines will enter into an armed conflict, fully realizing we stand to lose in this
war.] - Lawfare, not warfare, in South China Sea by Marichu A. Villanueva, The
Philippine Star
[The underwater plateau is, without doubt, extremely valuable. It holds a
diversity of marine life and functions as spawning ground for fish. If it is damaged, the
already thin supply of fish around our archipelago will be thinner still.] - Benham by
Alex Magno, The Philippine Star
[However, fast-forward to today and everything seems to have changed. After
the election President Duterte seems to be okay with alienating everyone but China
(and Russia). It was quite surprising to have heard him make such a strong promise
on the Scarborough Shoal issue only to cozy up to China so much once he took the
office. He even had no problem speaking out against the United States even though
they were the ones who had promised to aid us should tensions with China get out of
control over the disputed islands.] - (The mystery of Benham Rise by Tony Katigbak,
The Philippine Star)

Amplifiers are the intensifiers that are used to exaggerate a certain statement.
Maximizers are identified to be increasing the degree of a word from the standard
degree of it. Maximizers exaggerates a statement such as completely, absolutely,
fully, extremely, and quite. Moreover, boosters are also increasing the extent of a
statement wherein, boosters are badly, greatly, highly, so, and well. Boosters are
evident from these examples:
[The rapport between Prme Minister Modi and President Duterte can provide
the needed boost to deepen economic relations, as well as defense and security
cooperation between India and the Philippines. And bilateral ties can further bolster
the value of the Democratic Security Diamond (or the “Quad”) in strengthening and
developing the Philippines’ maritime capabilities. Along with maximizing bilateral
relations with the other Quad members — Japan, Australia, and the United States —
the Philippines’ healthy ties with India would be greatly beneficial to us. Think in
terms of benefiting from India’s advanced defense technology through technology
transfer and procurement of military arms and equipment.] - Harnessing soft power
for regional security by Dindo Manhit, Philippine Daily Inquirer
[This column was written based on the wonderful work done by the highly
respected Justice Tony Carpio, whose decisions on controversial cases I take as my
guide.] - China must respect others by Peter Wallace, Philippine Daily Inquirer
On the other hand, the downtoners are the exact opposite of the amplifiers. The
dowtoners such as the approximater (e.g. almost), the compromiser (e.g. more or
less), the diminisher (e.g. partly) and the minimizer (e.g. hardly) can be seen from
these examples:
The Aproximater

[President Duterte has named our initial negotiating team composed of former
President Fidel Ramos, former Secretary Raffy Alunan and former ABC News
Beijing Bureau head Chito Sta. Romana. Among the three, Chito Sta. Romana is the
least known by the public. He is considered one of Southeast Asia’s foremost China
experts. He retired and came home to the Philippines almost six years ago after
spending almost four decades in China where he learned to read, write and speak
fluent Mandarin; and, became familiar with the culture and politics of China.] -
Negotiating with China by Elfren S. Cruz, The Philippine Star
The compromiser
[If this is how China will act into the future, a country that has no respect for
others, then we and our neighbors, if not the world, can expect more trouble.] -
China must respect others by Peter Wallace, Philippine Daily Inquirer
[This exchange of views between the treaty allies, however, could have been
handled through diplomatic channels. Earnest could have been less blunt about
Obama’s agenda for the talks. Duterte, for his part, could have contained his irritation
and dispatched his diplomats to send word, diplomatically, that if he felt lectured
upon during the bilaterals, he would bite Obama’s head off – or something like that.
This is what diplomats are paid to do – to tell each other, “screw you,” and then toast
to their countries’ enduring friendship.] – Statesmanship by Ana Marie Pamintuan,
The Philippine Star
The diminisher
[China is claiming “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratlys and its waters.
It is hurriedly putting up structures on its newly created manmade islands in disputed
areas that are claimed wholly (by China) or partly by several Southeast Asian
nations plus Taiwan. It is even claiming shoals that are right smack inside Philippine
territory.] - Other Spratlys claimants by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo, Philippine Daily Inquirer
The minimizer

[The Marines, the residents of Kalayaan, seem to be developing some
understanding of a pride of place, knowing what’s at stake, but never sure about
what it all means for a nation that hardly knows about their existence.] - Pride of
place by Michael L. Tan, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Therefore, intensifiers are one of the contributory factors that enhances or
exaggerates a statement to make the image more visible to the readers.
Thus, as presented by Quirk et. al. (1985), most of the intensifiers that is
observed in the table 4. 2. 5 are “amplifiers” which denotes and shows concern on
two things: to maximize and to boost the degree of a particular word. Thus, the
intensifiers so, and highly are “boosters” while the intensifiers really, very, fully, and
repeatedly are ”maximizers.” Hence, this can primarily mean that with the frequency
of these intensifiers, it is concluded that the gathered data showed amplification or
exaggeration in terms of words surrounding them.
G. Other structures of texts
Discourse Organization
The researchers analyzed the articles according to its appropriate pattern
namely: Problem-solution pattern, Claim-counterclaim pattern, and essays. There
are certain movement for each pattern however, the essay type articles are excluded
for it does not have any pattern to follow unlike the first two frameworks.
Table 8 Overall Totality of Discourse organizational frameworks
Discourse Patterns Total
Claim-Counterclaim Framework 85

As seen in the table, the most used discourse organizational framework is
claim-counterclaim wherein McCarthy (1991) offered an alternative framework for
argumentative texts in this pattern. This pattern has three components: (1)
establishing a common ground, (2) making a claim, and (3) issuing/asserting a claim.
The common ground signals are mostly finite verbs that makes the readers
convinced to the point of the writer (i.e. table 9); making a claim is the next
component of the claim-counterclaim pattern wherein the writer now proceeds in
presenting the claims of the opposition in a negative light and presents his position or
stand on the issue (i.e. table 10). Lastly, issuing/asserting a claim is the last move of
the writer wherein he now offers counterarguments to support his claim(s) on the
issue (i.e. table 11).
Table 9 Discourse organization of the article Are we helpless in relation to China? by
Tina Siugan published in The Philippine Star
Move Text
Move 1
There is more to the Philippines’
involvement in the West Philippine Sea dispute
than the interplay of longstanding claims for
territorial entitlements among neighboring Asia
Pacific states and rights over marine resources
in the area, of which Filipinos (perhaps including
some of our leaders) are not fully aware of.
Move 2
A meaningful analysis of the situation would
impel one to consider the following premises:
In US’ eyes, the Philippines has by far the
Problem-Solution Framework 51
Essay Type 22

most strategic location in the Asia Pacific region.
“Uncle Sam” constantly looks for ways in order
to gain and combine economic and maritime
advantages in the region where it could build its
navy and consequently enhance its regional
presence and prowess.
The area surrounding the West Philippine
Sea, where the Philippines is considered to be
the most “approachable” state, is as much
suitable for blockade as it is for trade and
economic current. No wonder, for years, the US
continues its ties with the Philippines and
constantly helps in the latter’s affairs. Of course,
if it could keep close ties with its foes, with more
reason it would with its goal.
On the other hand, China’s interest over the
Philippines and the West Philippine Sea is a mix
of aspiration and self-preservation. The West
Philippine Sea, an area known worldwide as the
South and East China seas, is surrounded and
comprised of islands running from Japan
through Indonesia. This area has been regarded
as a valuable route for trade and commerce.
However, China’s interest doesn’t end here.
Notably, the spacing of these islands poses
risks upon China’s maritime defense as this
area tends to be a constrictive passage
vulnerable to sea and air block off. When the
going gets tough in this area, China can be
easily sealed off without lifting even a single
finger.
Finally, we may also observe that the US is
bothered by the fact that China is a continuously
emerging state power in the Asia Pacific region.
But then, we cannot discount the reality that,
due to its superior capability to impose
restrictions and/or blockade upon unfavorable
states, US causes China so much insecurity
Move 3
These are the muted, if not underrated,
dynamics that actually makes the Philippines a
powerful bargaining entity, and which our fellow

Filipinos must ponder on. We are in the position
that could either make or break the
aforementioned regional “super powers.” Our
country holds the fulcrum, which can influence
not only the status quo in the Pacific region, but
the international state of affairs as a whole.
Premises considered and in reality, the
Philippines may not just be China’s viable
option. Our country is its only hope.
So who’s helpless now?
Table 10 Discourse orgainzation of the article An auspicious start, almost by Mahar
Mangahas published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer
Move Text
Move 1
HAVING SEEN the Second Quarter 2016
Social Weather Survey, done on June 24-27 on a
national sample of 1,200 adult respondents, I can
say that its findings point to a very auspicious start
for the incoming administration of President
Duterte.
The people saw the May 2016 elections as a
great success. SWS will, in due time, issue a
special report on the last elections, based on a
large battery of survey items executed for the
Comparative Study of Electoral Systems (CSES).
CSES, consisting of 57 institutes that do a
common national survey during their major election
year, is one of SWS’ cross-country networks. Each
institute finances its own country survey. SWS did
CSES surveys in 1998, 2004 and 2010. The United
States will soon have its own CSES survey, in line
with its presidential election year.
Public trust in President Duterte is very high.
SWS recently reported very high trust of Filipinos in
their presidents-elect in June 2016 and June 2010
(see “Unity behind president-select,” Opinion,

Move 2 7/16/16).
Last June was too early to survey public
satisfaction in presidential performance. The SWS
survey found public expectations of the president
very high; this will be reported soon.
The government’s moves in the West
Philippine Sea are enormously popular. On this,
see “SWS March 16-20, 2016 Survey: 78% support
government’s filing of a case at UN for peaceful
resolution of PH-China dispute; 87% confident of
Philippine win,” www.sws.org.ph, 7/12/16, and
“Second Quarter 2016 Social Weather Survey: Net
trust in China a ‘poor’ -24,” www.sws.org.ph,
7/18/16.
The people’s indicators of their economic
wellbeing are at record highs. These are the SWS
regular quarterly indicators of poverty, hunger,
quality-of-life gainers, personal optimism, and
economic optimism. Being measured from the
bottom up, they are more meaningful to the people
than the official statistics of Gross National
Product. The self-rated thresholds for poverty are
much more realistic than the top-down calculations
by officials who do not monitor the full needs of the
poor.
I wrote earlier about the economic news being
good ever since the first quarter of 2015 (see
“Favorable news about poverty,” Opinion, 5/27/16,
and “It’s not the economy, stupid,” Opinion, 6/3/16).
The economic news in the June 2016 survey is
even better than before; details will be in
forthcoming SWS releases.
Public satisfaction with general governance
reached new heights. SWS will soon issue a final
report card of the Aquino administration (i.e., the
executive branch of the government) as of June
2016. It is far superior to the final report card of the
Arroyo administration in June 2010. The final
average grades, for the full Aquino term up to
2016Q2, will exceed the preliminary averages in
“P-Noy raised the bar,” Opinion, 6/25/16, which

only went up to 2016Q1.
Move 3
Public satisfaction with other high officials
besides the president, and with the legislative and
judicial branches of government, also reached high
levels in the June 2016 survey. The final averages
for the full Aquino period will likewise exceed the
preliminary averages up to 2016Q1 (“New
standards of governance,” Opinion, 7/4/16).
In constructing the quarterly report cards of the
Duterte administration, SWS will maintain Fighting
inflation, Fighting graft and corruption, Helping the
poor, Fighting hunger, Fighting crime, Promoting
foreign relations, Promoting the welfare of
overseas Filipino workers, and Reconciliation with
Muslim and communist rebel groups as core
subjects for the people to grade.
Candidate subjects for more frequent inclusion
would be: Promoting human rights, Fighting
addiction to banned drugs, Protecting Philippine
territorial and maritime rights, Protecting the
environment, and Being better prepared for natural
disasters.
As the people’s conditions improve, so will their
standards and expectations, and all the more will
their unity and cooperation with governance matter.
SWS has just issued the report, “First Quarter
2016 Social Weather Survey: 57% said
government’s treatment of GMA was fair; 66% had
little trust in her; 58% wanted her in a regular
prison.” www.sws.org.ph, 7/21/16.
From December 2011 to April 2016, SWS did
10 surveys on whether the government’s treatment
of former president GMA was fair, or too lenient, or
too harsh. All these surveys found a majority (from
55 to 69 percent) calling the treatment fair; those
calling it too lenient or too harsh were equally
divided. In the April 2016 round, 57 percent said
“fair,” 21 percent said “too lenient,” and another 21
percent said “too harsh.”
From September 2010 to April 2016, there

were 19 SWS surveys about public trust in GMA.
Her net trust ratings ranged from -32 (“bad”) to -63
(“very bad”); it was -52 last April. These look like
continuations of GMA’s consistently negative
performance as president in 2004-10.
In five SWS surveys from March 2012 to April
2016, those feeling that GMA should be transferred
to a regular prison after being discharged from
hospital, instead of being put under house arrest,
were always the majority—initially 70 percent, but
dropping to 58 percent last April.
The history of public opinion about GMA does
not suggest that the recent Supreme Court action
to release her was popular. SWS will examine this
in its next regular survey.
Table 11 Discourse organization of the article Riding the Tiger by Ana Marie
Pamintuan published in The Philippine Star
Move Text
Move 1
It is good to hear President Duterte he’s not
about to concede the country’s sovereign rights in
parts of the South China Sea to his newest BFF,
China.
Especially because he has already projected
concession by saying he would ask Beijing to
“allow” Filipinos to fish freely in Panatag or
Scarborough Shoal.
Move 2
Apart from a fact that a cursory look at a map
will show how far that shoal is from the
southernmost tip of China and how close it is to
Zambales and Pangasinan, the ruling of the
Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague declared
Scarborough as a common fishing ground.
Meaning, no one can claim ownership of the area,
so no one can either “allow” – or its opposite,
prohibit – others from fishing in the shoal.

This ruling on Panatag was the only loss for the
Philippines in the petition for arbitration. Panatag
lies just 130 nautical miles (150 regular miles) off
Zambales – well within our 200-mile exclusive
economic zone as defined under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) on
which the arbitration ruling was based. The shoal is
in at least one official Spanish colonial era map of
Las Islas Filipinas, where it is called Bajo de
Masinloc.
The arbitral court decided the area is too small
for any nation to lay claim to it. So it was not
included among the specific areas – Panganiban or
Mischief Reef, Ayungin or Second Thomas Shoal
and Recto (Reed) Bank – where the Philippines
was awarded sovereign rights under UNCLOS.
But the arbitral court also specifically declare
that China violated Philippine fishing rights by
preventing Filipinos from fishing in Panatag. So why
should Beijing be asked to “allow” Filipinos to fish
there?
After China was walloped the arbitral court,
which went beyond the Philippines’ petition and
invalidated Beijing’s entire nine-dash claim over
nearly all of the South China Sea, Du30’s approach
is probably the best way to give the Chinese a
face-saving way of complying with the international
ruling.
From the start this seems to have been the
tack. Announcing the ruling in brief summation that
did not even mention what the nation had won in
terms of sovereign rights, Foreign Secretary
Perfecto Yasay Jr. not only avoided any sign of
rejoicing but seemed downright funereal.
Du30’s constant attacks on Obama and
Philippine treaty ally the United States have also
helped thaw ties with the Chinese. When it comes
to Asia, Beijing surely believes its own proverb, that
two tigers cannot share one mountain.
Move 3 While greeting the China trip with optimism,

caution is always useful, with the national interest
foremost in mind.
Related to the drug war, there is an Asian
proverb warning against those who send you the
disease and then sell you the cure.
As for the financing access, this is generally
welcome, but it’s always good to scrutinize the fine
print. These are tied loans to be repaid, not grats,
and there’s a consistent requirement. The
contactors must be Chinese, with the lending side,
not the Philippines, vetting the companies. If we
end up with more Dalian-made trains without
engines, it’s the Du30 government’s lookout. The
last time Beijing made $1.5 billion available in soft
loans to the Philippines (30-year repayment at 3
percent interest), we got ZTE broadband scandal.
When it comes to providing foreign funding,
China does not play by the rules of Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. There’s
no due diligence, which makes Chinese aid
attractive to crooked tyrants. Several China-funded
projects in developing nations in Africa have
become embroiled in corruption scandals and
failure to deliver on contracts.
Africans have their own proverb: if a man rides
on the back of the tiger, he should not be surprised
if he ends up in its stomach.
The buzz in Tsinoy circles is that Du30’s
friendly overtures stopped Beijing’s plans of turning
Panatag into an artificial island. President Duterte
should be canny enough not to turn himself into a
tiger’s lunch.
Table 12 Discourse organization of the article Patriotism by Ana Marie Pamintuan
published in The Philippine Star
Move Text

Move 1
President Duterte has often stressed that he
does not intended to go to war against China.
Instead he’s been going out of his way to build a
bridge of friendship with Beijing. Left unsaid is
whether he thinks Beijing will use military force on
its neighbors to stake its nine-dash-line territorial
claim – invalidated by a UN-backed arbitral court
over nearly the entire South China Sea.
Amid his friendly overtures toward Beijing,
Du30 must be seeing something that we don’t,
which calls for military preparedness for Filipinos.
While the Armed Forces of the Philippines works in
tandem with the Philippine National Police (PNP)
on domestic counterterrorism, the principal AFP
mandate is external defense.
Move 2
Du30’s repeated push for the revival of
mandatory Reserved Officers’ Training Corp or
ROTC for college students is fueling speculation
that he’s seeing an external armed threat on the
horizon.
Yesterday he further stoked speculation by the
threatening to require national conscription, amid
resistance to the revival of ROTC.
During a recent gathering at Malacañang,
there was a nervous tittering among the Young
Boy Scouts of the Philippines when Duterte asked
them if they would be willing to die for their
country. There was also a tentative show of hands,
accompanied by nervous laughter, when Duterte
asked who among the scouts wanted to become
soldiers or policemen.
Duterte might have received a more
enthusiastic response if he asked who wanted to
become a video game designer or movie animator.
Defending one’s nation in armed conflict can
create a strong sense of patriotism and national
identity.
You feel this in Hanoi where founding father
Ho Chi Minh is revered as the closest thing to a
saint in the communist country, followed by his

military general who drove away the French and
Americans, Vo Nguyen Giap. The Vietnamese
also fought China with both sides, claiming victory,
although security experts say that with the
Vietnamese holding on to Cambodia after the
Chinese had withdrawn from Hanoi, Vietnam won
that brief war.
Move 3
The resistance to proposals to revive ROTC
stems from the sense that the times no longer call
for it. But President Duterte seems not to think
otherwise, but also speaks of the need for military
training with urgency.
He is also going out of his way to show
concern for members of the military and police.
The concern seems sincere; I don’t think he’s just
trying to ensure that the AFP and PNP won’t
attempt to oust him in a coup. Duterte strikes me
as the first President in a long while to fully grasp
the gravity of sending men and women on
missions that might entail dying for their country.
Our soldiers and cops are still a long way from
getting the pay, benefits, weapons and equipment
and enjoyed by their counterparts in certain other
countries. But they liked the attention being
showered on them by their very new
commander-in-chief.
The buzz is that Du30 is also placating
persistent grumblings in the AFP and PNP about
his bending over backwards in dealing with
communist rebels and the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front.
We will also have to quell unease in the AFP
as he tries to use friendship in making the Chinese
dragon behave like a good neighbor in disputed
waters.
The challenge to national sovereignty is
fueling questions about how much we love our
country. What are we willing to risk for the nation?
We probably will never know until a clear and
present danger stares us in the face and the

government calls citizens to arms.
Table 13 Discourse organization of the article Is China exempted? By Federico D.
Pascual Jr. Published in The Philippine Star
Move Text
Move 1
THE BAN on foreign military bases is still in
the Constitution (Article XVIII, Section 25), so we
have been waiting for President Rodrigo Duterte to
announce what he intends to do about China’s
building bases on Philippine maritime areas.
On Monday, in a speech before the Chinese
Business Club, President Duterte preached
tolerance, downplaying the sinister nature of the
military bases that China has built rapidly on
features in the West Philippine Sea.
It was silly to think the installations would be
used against the Philippines, he said, adding that
China was just beefing up its defense capability
against the United States. Washington has served
notice that it would continue to keep South China
Sea lanes open to navigation.
Move 2
Referring to the Chinese facilities erected on
disputed WPS features, some of them reefs
upgraded into habitable outposts, Duterte
explained: “The contending ideological powers of
the world or the geopolitics has greatly changed.
It’s really intended against those who the Chinese
think would destroy them and that is America.”
Since some of the military outposts or facilities
built by China are within Philippine territory, a
reasonable mind would think that they should be
covered by the constitutional ban on foreign
bases.
Has President Duterte and Foreign Secretary
Alan Cayetano brought up the ban in their
meetings with their Chinese counterparts? If they

did, where are the official minutes?
Whether they did or did not, it is high time they
informed the Filipino people – or at least the
Senate – in view of the advanced stage of
militarization of the WPS isles, especially Subi,
Mischief, and Fiery Cross reefs in the Spratlys
group close to Palawan.
WHILE the President is the country’s
spokesman in foreign relations, under the
Constitution his conduct of diplomacy, including
the entering into treaties and international
agreements, must be with the advice and consent
of the Senate.
For reference, Section 25 imposing the ban
says in part: “Foreign military bases, troops, or
facilities shall not be allowed in the Philippines
except under a treaty duly concurred in by the
Senate and, when the Congress so requires,
ratified by a majority of the votes cast by the
people in a national referendum held for that
purpose, and recognized as a treaty by the other
contracting State.”
The definition of the Philippine territory will
crop up during the planned revision or amendment
of the Constitution. Aside from the unresolved
Philippine claim on Sabah (North Borneo), the
status of disputed features in the West Philippine
Sea will be brought up.
On Panatag (Scarborough) shoal, Duterte
disclosed that China President Xi Jinping has
promised not to build any structure on that
traditional fishing ground of Filipinos, Chinese and
Vietnamese some 120 nautical miles west of the
Zambales coast.
But Filipino fishermen have been complaining
that Chinese Coast Guard vessels and fishing
boats were crowding them out of Panatag.
Still upbeat, Duterte said that talks were
ongoing for the joint exploration and mining of
Philippine maritime resources. In advance, he

talked of a two-thirds/one-third Philippine-China
sharing.
The President did not explain, however, what
was to be shared two-thirds/one-third. Was he
referring to the sharing of costs, or gross earnings
or net profits?
WHEN pressed to explain why Duterte has
allowed the militarization of WPS features to the
point of virtual surrender of Philippine territory,
administration apologists’ usual retort is to ask
what previous administrations had done about it.
A sample of what had been done was the filing
in 2014 by the Aquino administration of a case
against China with the Permanent Court of
Arbitration at The Hague. The action won in 2016
a grant invalidating the Nine-Dash Line theory that
China uses to claim virtually all of the South China
Sea.
That victory of Manila could have been used
as legal, diplomatic and political leverage, but
Duterte cast it aside as he cozied up to Beijing and
pivoted away from the United States.
Move 3
Shortly after, reports came out that China was
transforming Mischief Reef in the Spratlys into an
island in violation of the arbitral ruling based on the
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
that China and the Philippines, among more than
100 nations, had signed.
Periodically, photographs showed continued
Chinese militarization in the WPS. By the end of
2017, China nearly completed installing military
facilities in its “big three” Spratlys islands – Subi,
Mischief, and Fiery Cross reefs – complete with
airstrips that can handle jumbo jets.
The US-based think tank Asia Maritime
Transparency Initiative has reported that China is
likely using Fiery Cross (Kagitingan Reef) as its
intelligence hub in the Spratlys. It reported: “None
of the other bases in the Spratlys so far has a
comparable array, though smaller ones have been

built on Subi and Mischief, suggesting that Fiery
Cross might be serving as a signals
intelligence/communications hub for Chinese
forces in the area.”
On the other hand, the problem-solution pattern is generally recurrent
combination of clause relations that function together in such a way that they are
perceived as having an existence independent of the relations out of which they are
constructed. According to Hoey (1983), “text can be defined as the visible evidence
of a reasonably self-contained purposeful interaction between one or more writers
and one or more readers” This interaction can be seen as a series of hypothetical
questions the reader makes to the writer. The standard problem-solution pattern has
the components Situation-Problem-Response-Result-Evaluation where the first
move is named (1) Describing the situation wherein the writer is simply giving the
readers a brief heads up about a particular issue to debrief them what will be the
whole article that will tackle; (2) Identifying and describing the problem wherein the
writer was able to identify the dilemma and he continuously defining the problem that
makes the problem well developed to further understand by the readers.
Furthermore, it is the “aspect of a situation requiring a response” according to Hoey
(2001). (3) Proposing a solution to the problem wherein the author tries to imply his
own perspective about the said issue and the developed problem, that requires
either negative evaluation or positive evaluation lastly, (4) Evaluating the proposed
solution wherein the writer finally assesses the solution that he expressed. The

problem solution pattern is always composed of four movements, where, it can be
seen from the texts analyzed.
Table 14 Discourse organization of the article Conduct by Alex Magno published in
The Philippine Star
Move Text
Move 1
Again, the ASEAN foreign ministers had to
bargain hard behind closed doors to arrive at a
suitable joint statement at the close of their
meetings.
Move 2
This is not unusual. In fact, it has become the
norm since the regional grouping attempted
arriving at a Code of Conduct for all parties
involved in the South China Sea dispute. The
scope and enforceability of such a Code of
Conduct has been problematic.
If it were just a matter of dividing the house and
establishing a majority, this could have been done
years ago. But that is not the way the ASEAN
operates. The regional association hews strictly to
the principle of consensus in everything that
emanates from its meetings.
There is no consensus on how the ASEAN
should manage the South China Sea disputes.
There is a wide spectrum of opinion ranging from
Cambodia’s staunch pro-China position to
Vietnam’s more hawkish position seeking to eject
China’s forces from what should be a Southeast
Asian Sea.
Vietnam’s hawkish position, however, is
undermined by its own actions. In those islands
of the Paracels she controls, Vietnam built military
fortifications and stationed garrisons. In a way,
Vietnam made the first move to militarize the
contested islands and reefs.
If ever the ASEAN arrives at a binding agreement
to demilitarize the contested area, Vietnam as

much as China will have to be compelled to
remove their garrisons. We do not know if Hanoi
is ready to do that.
China, of course, does not admit to building
military facilities in the contested reefs. In the
early days of this controversy, Beijing maintained
they were constructing “shelters” for their
fishermen in the area. In practice, however, as the
facilities became more sophisticated, China has
effectively extended its exclusive economic zone
as the expense of other claimants.
Move 3
There are other aspects to a binding Code of
Conduct. There is the matter of joint exploitation
of the area’s resources and the guarantee of the
freedom of navigation. The contested area
straddles one of the busiest shipping routes in the
world. This is the reason why all the powerful
nations of the world are keenly following the
course of this dispute.
The joint statement finally issued by the ASEAN
foreign ministers did tackle the issue of
island-building undertaken by China, although
using language less stern that what Vietnam
might have wanted. The island-building activity,
the statement noted, “eroded trust and
confidence, increased tensions and may
undermine peace, security and stability in the
region.”
Move 4
There is, according to reports, some progress
achieved in developing a framework for the
elusive Code of Conduct. To date, all the ASEAN
has is the 2002-vintage Declaration on the Code
of Conduct of Parties. That document is
non-binding, as the frantic island-building in the
contested area demonstrates.
Table 15 Discourse organization of the article Duterte’s international debut by Babe
Romualdez published in The Philippine Star

Move Text
Move 1
For many of us political observers especially the
international media, it would be interesting to watch
how President Duterte will conduct himself when he
meets with US President Barack Obama, Russian
President Vladimir Putin, Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe and other world leaders on the
sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Laos.
Move 2
This is his first trip abroad as president of the
country and many people including high-ranking
government officials from other nations, are eager
to see him up close – an indicator of the kind of
international attention we have been getting lately,
most especially with the drug war and now the
Friday night bomb blast right in the heart of the
president’s backyard.
Let’s face it, our standing before the international
arena has been elevated to a certain degree – also
to the credit of the previous administration and the
foreign policies advanced by former Foreign
Secretary Albert del Rosario. With President
Duterte, international attention has become even
more intense with his recent pronouncements on
the extra judicial killings, our relationship with China
and the US, and how he intends to “navigate” the
waters around the West Philippine Sea. Secretary
Jun Yasay tells us the President is well briefed and
ready to meet the leaders of all the countries.
The fatal explosion that prompted the president to
put Mindanao under a “state of lawlessness” will
obviously be a focus of international attention. The
Abu Sayyaf Group has already claimed
responsibility for the blast, in obvious retaliation to
the president’s order to destroy the terrorist group.
US National Security Council spokesperson Ned
Price issued a statement of condolence, saying
President Obama plans to offer his personal
condolences when the two leaders meet on the
sidelines of the summit. Certainly, it would be
“enlightening” to watch the interaction.
Unfortunately, I had to decline the US Embassy

Information office invitation to accredit me and
observe the Obama trip during the ASEAN Summit.
The timing is in conflict with my trip to Bangkok
upon the invitation of the Thai government.
Majority of Filipinos fully support Duterte’s war
against drugs but they are also extremely
concerned with his security. This has been
highlighted by the recent arrest of arms smugglers
with almost P5 million worth of gun parts for the
assassination of the president. Illegal drugs is a
major funding source for terrorism, and the
government’s intensified campaign has made
“business” difficult for drug dealers. Interestingly, it
was the US Department of Homeland Security that
tipped off Philippine authorities about the smuggling
of gun parts from the US to assassinate Duterte.
Cooperation between US and Philippine authorities
continue despite controversial statements issued
by the president regarding US Ambassador Philip
Goldberg and State Secretary John Kerry. Also
recently, the president said US president Barack
Obama should first “clean up his own backyard”
before making conclusions about the possible
violation of human rights in relation to Duterte’s war
against illegal drugs. The meeting of the two
leaders will be the first and maybe the last since
Obama will be leaving office soon.
From what I am told, Russian president Vladimir
Putin is also eager to meet Duterte who has
expressed the same eagerness, | saying they may
have similarities. Both men believe in an iron fist
style of leadership, | and despite what has been
written about him, a lot of Russians and many
people admire Putin for his tight control of his
country. In fact, Filipinos were curious to see him
during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
Leaders’ Summit in Manila last year. My friend,
Ambassador Igor Khovaev, would have arranged
for me to meet the Russian leader, but President
Putin begged off at the last minute due to the
downing of a Russian aircraft in Egypt with
suspicions that the incident could have been the

work of terrorists.
Move 3
Anyway, I think President Duterte will do well at the
Laos ASEAN summit including the bilateral
meetings with other leaders. As a lawyer and
former prosecutor, he is used to driving his point in
convincing people of his strategy in fighting
criminality. People close to Duterte say he has an
unrelenting stand against lawlessness and
criminality, but he also has this charming persona
that has endeared him to people from the high and
mighty to the poorest of the poor. He has shown
this when he went around police and military
detachments, condoling with the family of
casualties, visiting the wounded and just recently,
personally welcoming at the airport the repatriated
overseas Filipino workers stranded in Saudi.
The summit in Laos will be the first test on how the
president shows his diplomatic skills. He will be the
face representing 110 million Filipinos to the
international community, and this will ultimately
define the kind of leadership he will project to the
outside world.
While he may want to firm up relations with
countries like China and Russia, there is no
denying the US has been a strong and valuable ally
especially in the fight against drugs and terrorism.
We need the help of Americans to secure our
borders and patrol our seas, and they are
committed to do that owing to our Mutual Defense
Treaty and agreements like the EDCA. Majority of
our military hardware comes from the United
States. They have come to our aid on many
occasions particularly during devastating disasters
like super typhoon Yolanda. The United States
dispatched its major aircraft carrier George
Washington within 48 hours in the aftermath of
Yolanda that saved thousands of lives.
Move 4
We all should hope President Rodrigo Duterte’s
first international meeting will be successful
because clearly, his success will ultimately be our
success.

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