I Can't Get Enough of Robin Padilla Again

Senator Robin Padilla’s recent admonition—“Kapag nambastos ka... bastosin ka talaga” (If you’re rude, expect rudeness in return)—offers a refreshingly candid take on the age-old principle of reciprocal respect. 

It’s a sentiment that resonates well in everyday street wisdom, where a little toughness often settles disputes more efficiently than lengthy debates. 

However, transplanting this straightforward “eye-for-an-eye” logic into the labyrinthine world of international diplomacy, especially regarding the West Philippine Sea dispute with China, reveals an amusing yet troubling paradox. 

It is as if one were to bring a bazooka to a chess tournament and wonder why the audience prefers knights and bishops over gunpowder.

The fundamental flaw in Senator Padilla’s analogy lies in its assumption of mutual provocation—the idea that disrespect is always met with equal disrespect. 

When applied to geopolitical tensions in the West Philippine Sea, this assumption unravels spectacularly. 

The “bastos” or outright disrespect has largely been one-sided: China has engaged in an aggressive campaign of island-building and maritime militia deployment within our Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). 

Imagine your neighbor erecting a colossal shed on your property while telling you to stay confined to your kitchen—who exactly initiated this cycle of rudeness? The answer here is painfully clear.

Adding insult to injury—or rather water cannon blasts—our fishermen and naval personnel have endured humiliating treatment such as being sprayed by high-pressure water cannons simply for attempting to deliver supplies or exercise their rights within our own waters. 

In terms of etiquette violations, this surpasses forgetting polite expressions like “po” and “opo.” 

Meanwhile, despite the 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling decisively rejecting China’s expansive claims as legally baseless, Beijing continues to treat the decision with all the respect usually reserved for unsolicited gym flyers shoved under one’s door.

The irony emerges when Senator Padilla suggests that standing up for our rights might itself be construed as provoking rudeness—a curious twist that would imply filing a police report against a thief is somehow rude toward said thief. 

Sovereignty isn’t about reciprocating perceived insults; it is about asserting inherent rights recognized by international law and moral justice. 

Protecting our fishermen and enforcing legal rulings are not provocations but essential duties embedded within responsible nationhood.

Ultimately, respect may be earned through conduct, but sovereignty is an inherent condition—not something granted or revoked based on who was “bastos” first. 

Mistaking bullying aggression for justified responses risks normalizing injustice under the pretense of mutual fault.

 If Senator Padilla’s streetwise rule implies we are being rude merely by existing peacefully within our own territorial waters, then perhaps it’s time for everyone involved—including policymakers—to revisit not only Philippine history but also the nuances of diplomacy where toughness must be paired with strategy rather than simplistic tit-for-tat logic.