Angels of the Sea

[Queenie O.]

Hi Folks,

Not sure if this has been posted before, but thought it was so cool 

https://econ.st/3hUoYPr

Quote

 

Jul 10th 2021
MANILA

In the cold war over the warm waters of the South China Sea, one combatant, the Philippines, has discovered a new weapon for keeping its adversaries out of the areas it claims: the voices of women. On June 30th the Philippine Coast Guard vessel Cabra spotted seven foreign craft, five of them Chinese, in waters claimed by both the Philippines and China. One of the Cabra’s officers, Provisional Ensign Gretch Mary Acuario, a woman, hailed the foreign craft, and asked them to identify themselves and state their intentions—a sort of nautical formal invitation to buzz off. Without waiting around to answer, all seven craft scooted. It was no fluke. The same officer had pulled off a similar feat in April.

Ensign Acuario demonstrated what the coast guard had suspected for a while: that its women are more effective with the spoken word than its men. The suspicion was so strong that the coast guard arranged a special course of training, exclusively for women, as radio operators. The course culminated in the graduation of 81 female radio operators just days before Ensign Acuario’s latest triumph. Vice-Admiral Leopoldo Laroya told the trainees that, in their interactions with foreigners, their voices were less likely than men’s to raise tensions. “We want our Angels of the Sea to become the voice of peaceful and rules-based order at sea, especially in our country’s sensitive maritime frontiers,” he declared.

 

Spoiler

Jul 10th 2021 edition
Hark! The herald angels say “buzz off”
The Philippines’ secret weapon against Chinese incursions
Female radio operators appear to have greater success in driving away unwelcome boats

Jul 10th 2021
MANILA

In the cold war over the warm waters of the South China Sea, one combatant, the Philippines, has discovered a new weapon for keeping its adversaries out of the areas it claims: the voices of women. On June 30th the Philippine Coast Guard vessel Cabra spotted seven foreign craft, five of them Chinese, in waters claimed by both the Philippines and China. One of the Cabra’s officers, Provisional Ensign Gretch Mary Acuario, a woman, hailed the foreign craft, and asked them to identify themselves and state their intentions—a sort of nautical formal invitation to buzz off. Without waiting around to answer, all seven craft scooted. It was no fluke. The same officer had pulled off a similar feat in April.

Ensign Acuario demonstrated what the coast guard had suspected for a while: that its women are more effective with the spoken word than its men. The suspicion was so strong that the coast guard arranged a special course of training, exclusively for women, as radio operators. The course culminated in the graduation of 81 female radio operators just days before Ensign Acuario’s latest triumph. Vice-Admiral Leopoldo Laroya told the trainees that, in their interactions with foreigners, their voices were less likely than men’s to raise tensions. “We want our Angels of the Sea to become the voice of peaceful and rules-based order at sea, especially in our country’s sensitive maritime frontiers,” he declared.

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by Dave Hounddriver