Syria And Philippines Entering Unknown Territory

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PHILIPPINES : There appears to be plenty unhappiness going on in the Philippines. The president Ferdinand Bong-Bong Marcos (son of the other Marcos) appears a little confused especially in his foreign affairs. He seems to be trying his best to be  America friendly.  Opposed against him is the vice president of the Philippines Sara Zimmerman Duterte, 46 who is the daughter of the previous president Rodrigo Duterte. In the Philippines the vice-president is independently elected by the people so the VP cannot be "fired" by the president.
The VP recently made a death threat in public against the president and his family. She said that if the president tried to assassinate her she has already hired hitmen to kill the president and his family. A storm in a tea cup. Some pro-Marcos activists are now trying to impeach the VP for her death threats against the president.  The VP is very popular and will be most likely running for president in 2028. That is four long years away. I believe the Philippines has a very good system where the president can only serve for one term of six years. No second term. We should change our system to be something like this.
Bong-Bong is messing up. Former president Duterte who is 79 years old says Bong Bong is a drug addict.
SYRIA - It looks like the Russian troops are still in Syria. They are in the Russian naval base in Tartus and the airbase at Khmeimim. Most likely they will be leaving on their own accord but the situation is still fluid in Syria. The Hayat Tahrir Shams (HTS) fellows are now providing security around the Russians - to make sure no harm befalls the Russian troops. The HTS leader Al Jolani has made  statements that he wants to cooperate with Russia. The HTS is backed 100% by Erdogan who also has good relations with Russia. 
Russia also uses the bases in Syria to support their troops in Africa but it is not impossible for Russia to move elsewhere for example to Libya. Yesterday Russia has decided to stop all shipments of grains to Syria. Russia is the largest supplier of grains and food to Syria. Russia says this is because of security reasons.  It will now be up to Erdogan to take over this role in Syria. It is not likely that Erdogan will be able to supply food to Syria.  The Syrian people are going to suffer even more.
Russia is a huge industrial and agricultural power. Russia is the largest economy in Europe, larger than Germany and  Britain. Russia produces more than twice the amount of steel that Germany produces. Russia is also among the largest grain exporters in the world. They have the capacity to maintain food supplies for an entire country like Syria. Turkey is not an industrial or agricultural power though they do export vegetables around Europe including to Russia. They may not have food to spare to send to Syria.
In Syria millions of school children have not been to school for the past five years. The war has totally disrupted their country. Teachers have not been paid salaries.

Yesterday I saw a Syrian shawarma seller in Putrajaya.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.
By Syed Akbar Ali 

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