APPEAL FROM PHILIPPINES

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21223, 20 September 1940, Page 4

APPEAL FROM PHILIPPINES

An appeal by the Philippine Islands for assistance from the United States in strengthening the defences of the islands has not come as a surprise. According to present arrangements the Philippines are due to receive complete independence from United States administration in 1946—0 n the expiry of a “ probationary ” period of 10 years. Had peace been preserved it is probable that the islands would have become independent on the date arranged, but the intervention of the war has completely altered the position, and it will be surprising if the move for independence is not reviewed. The people of the Philippines are painfully aware of the fact that they stand in a position of great strategic importance, especially in view of Japan’s southward expansion policy. If they were suddenly thrown upen their own resources for defence and for economic preservation they would be conscious of a great weakening of their position. As it is, the exigencies of war have rendered their economic position so acute that they find it impossible to face expenditure on defensive measures on a scale commensurate with the danger which they feel exists. Therefore the Finance Secretary has broadcast an appeal to the United States to strengthen their position by sending more arms, aeroplanes and other defensive equipment. The appeal brings the United States again face to face with the problem whether it should maintain its influence in the Far East unimpaired. If it intends that the status quo should not be disturbed it is obvious that the defences of the Philippines should not be allowed to remain in a dangerously inefficient state. If it intends to withdraw from the eastern Pacific, however, it would only be inviting other Powers to interfere if it left the Philippines in a state of helplessness. It seems more than probable that the islands will receive an affirmative answer to the appeal, because the United States has only recently intimated that the maintenance of the present position in the eastern Pacific is a matter of serious concern to the American Government. A decision forthwith between the United States and the Philippines to abandon the move for independence might have a powerful stabilising influence on the whole Far Eastern problem.