Filipino, Chinese officers sing ‘Scarborough Fair’

DAVAO CITY—High-ranking Filipino and Chinese military officers shared seats on a bus here and sang together “Scarborough Fair” as they toured the city on Thursday afternoon.

“We call this military diplomacy,” said Maj. Gen. Francisco Cruz Jr., deputy chief of staff for intelligence (J2) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The tour of the city was part of bonding between Cruz, Senior Col. Wang Jinbo and Maj. Li Yan of China, and eight other high-ranking military officers from the United States and Japan who belonged to the Foreign Armed Forces Attaché Corps (Fafa).

Cruz said that although tensions between the Philippines and China over the Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal) in the West Philippine Sea remained, he and his Chinese counterparts did not let the territorial dispute get in the way of their fellowship.

“We’re even joking about it,” Cruz said.

Sing-along

Then he and the other officers, including Fafa dean Col. Yuki Masuzaki of Japan and Col. Richard Matton of the United States, asked the Chinese if they knew the Simon and Gargunkel song “Scarborough Fair.”

(Editor’s Note: The superduo Simon and Garfunkel popularized the song in the 1970s.)

“We asked the Chinese to sing along with ‘Scarborough Fair,’” Cruz said. “We taught them how to sing it.”

Turning serious, Cruz said the Panatag Shoal dispute was a “legal debate” and not “a military issue,” that’s why officers from both sides easily shook off the tension it caused between the Philippines and China.

Diplomats talking

Cruz said the tension in the West Philippine Sea was easing because “the diplomats are talking.”

“The Scarborough issue lies quiet right now. There are signs that the situation is improving,” Cruz said.

“If the generals of different countries have harmonious relationship, there will be no war,” he added.

The 11 Fafa members took in the tourist destinations here and on nearby Samal Island, where they visited the Pearl Farm.

They also visited the prayer mountain of televangelist Apolonio Quiboloy in Barangay Tamayong here.

At the prayer mountain, Cruz said, they were treated to choir music, good food, and a tour of the 12-hectare compound.

Military diplomacy

He said the tour was part of the “military diplomacy” that defense attachés from different countries do twice a year to increase friendship and camaraderie among the militaries of the world.

“Last year, we were in Cebu,” he said. “Scarborough or no Scarborough, the activity continues,” he added.