Rogue Generals V2 Reboot: A Different Post-EDSA Uno Philippines TL

Possible, although Palau is also a potential location as well.

True. Although I would also have to address another key part of how the Civil War ended in the Philippines, before making a redux of Tadiar's rise to power.

You know, you might have given me an idea about the status of those Trust Territories. It wouldn't be like one of those insane ideas where the UN Trust Territories would be ceded to the Philippines from the US, but there could be a small movement of pro-US Filipinos that are itching to get into the Compact of Free Association as part of the wider anti-Tadiar movement. What we would see in the upcoming years is what we've seen in the original version of this TL, where you'd have the following:

- Pro-Chinese Filipino faction that wants complete independence of the Philippines, with close ties to China, deposing Tadiar, and replacing him with the communist veterans of the Filipino Civil War. Almost like OTL, but there would also be a kind of Second Ideological Rectification that would cause a split within the communist movement.

- Pro-US Filipino faction that wants the Philippines to join the Compact of Free Association, closer ties to the US, deposing Tadiar, and reinstalling the leaders of the former Aquino administration. However, the downside of this is that the Tadiar-era Cha-Cha wouldn't happen here, and the biggest irony of a Philippines under the CFA would be that the federalists had their chance of implementing their Cha-Cha through Artemio Tadiar himself. Or it would be Carlos Pimentel that implements the Cha-Cha.

- Pro-IndoPac Filipino faction that also wants complete independence of the Philippines, but forging a closer alliance to India, gradually shifting from military rule to civilian rule, and creating a new democratic government that would essentially be close to New Delhi. You might also see a Filipino version of Subhas Chandra Bose arising, although it would be a semi-socialist government in name only.

The only pro-Tadiar Filipino faction that would exist would want complete independence of the Philippines, with an idea inclusion of Palau and Guam (partitioning the UN Trust Territories with the US, although it would be wishful thinking at best), closer ties to Japan, Latin America, and the emerging Intermarium alliance here. (Yes, unlike the original version of the TL, I would envision a bigger role of Poland in the post-Communist era, but as it turns out, even Ukraine would have trouble trying to tame the rabid Filipino attack dog)

Another angle that I have hinted before is a possible scenario where the Tadiar regime actually manages to turn the Philippines into a poor man's copy of Libya under Gaddafi with nuclear weapons, leading to a joint Russo-Chinese 'Special Military Operation', where we could see Filipino soldiers engaging both Russian and Chinese troops. However, that might actually trigger an even bigger conflict than a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. 

In addition to this TL, there are also other TL projects that I have in mind that I wanted to launch, namely scenarios involving an earlier 1905 Russian Revolution that degenerates into either a European version of the Xinhai Revolution, or an even more brutal crackdown on the revolutionary movements that lead to an earlier Russian Civil War, allowing the Germans to secretly detach Poland and the Baltics away from Russia. Then there was that TL that I wanted to rewrite, which was my final TL before I was banned from ah.com, and that was an earlier death of Stalin that leads to Anastas Mikoyan taking over as leader of the Soviet Union.

That's why the anti-Tadiar groups would be fractured at best for a good chunk of the military dictatorship.

Well, I was side tracked by a lot of things, but an omake focusing on football is coming today. However, there might be another future TL that I was planning though, which focuses on either a bloodier Cavite Mutiny, or an earlier death of the Spanish Governor General that presided over the sentencing of the GomBurZa trio, from illness, plus I would need sources on mid to late 19th century Spain, as I wanted to write a scenario where the First Spanish Republic survives.

If you have any other cliche Filipino pop culture or behavior that I didn’t cover in the original version, feel free to suggest it to me. As I’ve said, Rogue Generals was supposed to focus mainly on the deconstruction of the post-EDSA Uno Filipino culture and sub-culture that was extremely cringe.

To commemorate the ongoing World Cup (which I was actually watching while I was off for three weeks, a re-Omake side chapter to make up for the delays in the updates).

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RE-OMAKE 01: FUTBOL

"The history of the Philippine national men's football team had been subjected to such calamities and adversities that many in the world had feared for its possible extinction, with the military dictatorship of Artemio Tadiar being the primary source of Philippine-born players of mixed heritage choosing to play for their adopted country. The most notable players of Filipino heritage to emerge as one of the most prominent football stars in Europe were the Mladenovic-Agsalud twins. Filip and Jovan Mladenovic-Agsalud were both born on February 22, 1996, to a Filipino father and a Yugoslav mother of mixed Serbian and Bosnian heritage, and both eventually played in various clubs throughout the rump Yugoslavia, before making their first debut on the professional level at the age of 17 in the Bosnian Second League team, NK Kiseljak. Though both twins would play for NK Kiseljak for three years, it was not until 2017 that they received an invitation to try out for the Philippine national men's football team. However, they were also picked to play international football on the U-21 level for Yugoslavia, and given that their father was a former veteran of the Filipino Civil War who fought, not for the legitimate government of Corazon Aquino, but for the New People's Army, before fleeing first to Vietnam, and then making his way throughout the Soviet bloc to Yugoslavia, they would not want to play in front of an audience that was brainwashed with such antipathy for anything and anyone communist. Yet, the decisions made by Filipinos of mixed heritage to play for their adopted country of residence, rather than for the Philippines, had been a source of anguish and resentment on part of the entire Philippine Football Federation. From the beginning of the Tadiar dictatorship in 1989 to his death in 2007, much of Philippine professional sports had been placed on a stasis, meaning that each of the national teams, whether it was the men's basketball team, or even the men's baseball team, would perform rather horribly for decades. Prior to 2014, all the managers of the Philippine national men's team were not trained to be coaches, but rather former military officers with little understanding of the game. It was not until when the Philippine national men's team had announced that they would bring in noted Croatian football manager and coach, Miroslav Bojko, while appointing former controversial Argentine international star in Diego Simeone as Bojko's assistant coach. The announcement of Bojko's announcement had garnered much excitement in the Balkans, where much of the former Filipino exile community had resided, as Bojko himself had mentored several Balkan-born Filipino players while he was an assistant caretaker for Cibalia. He knew some players who were more open to playing for the Philippines when their expected call up for Croatia wouldn't come, and he managed to win over a few of those players. Among them was Ante Jurajevic-Ablog, who eventually suited up for the Philippines in his first international debut during a friendly match in 2017 between the Philippines and Vietnam. Unfortunately, the appointment of Simeone as the assistant coach of the Philippine men's football team had provoked fury in Great Britain, especially given his roles in putting a premature end to Gareth Southgate's football career, as well as being the primary instigator of the fight between himself and Owen Hargreaves that resulted in the notorious Yokohama Brouhaha that forced FIFA to impose heavy sanctions on the English and Argentine teams. When asked about the appointment of Simeone as assistant coach of the Philippine men's national team, this is what the officials had to say:

Dan Palmi: Well, the appointment of Mr. Simeone was our initiative for President Legarda's attempts to forge a closer partnership between the Philippines and Argentina. Given that she was just a colonel during the Tadiar dictatorship, she was appointed as the military attache to the Philippine embassy in Buenos Aires in 2003, and became instrumental in helping to mend ties with Latin America.

The idea that the Philippine national men's football team would use international diplomacy to justify appointing a known thug as assistant coach is not just baffling, but atrocious. Heck, that was the reason why many football players in other parts of Europe, especially England, had refused to allow half-Filipino players to sign for their teams. All because of Diego Simeone. At the very least, Argentina's football federation is partnering with their Filipino counterparts in opening football academies in the country, though they might have a rivalry going on with Chile, as the Chileans had gotten a head start with that back in 2004, and the Argentines had opened their football academies in the Philippines in 2008. Training of coaches was primarily done with the help of the Spanish Football Federation, as the Philippine national men's football team wanted to play with the style that befits their national character." From the VisionChannel.com video, 'Philippine Football is Rising Once Again'.

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List of Hosts for the FIFA World Cup:

2002: Japan (marred by the infamous Yokohama Brouhaha between English and Argentine fans, first debut of Kazakhstan and Liberia)
2006: Germany (the first debut of Uzbekistan and Israel, marred by the Munich Riots between Israeli and Iranian fans)
2010: Colombia (the first debut of Ukraine, after a shocking 1-0 loss to Georgia in the UEFA qualifying round led to Turkey winning their group and Denmark ending in second place)
2014: Egypt (first time South Korea failed to make it to the WC, tournament was moved to mid-November to mid-December, due to the climate)
2018: Mexico (the first debut of the Philippines and DR Congo)
2022: Spain (the first debut of Mali)
2026: Australia

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"What truly stunned the Philippine football faithful during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying was the manner of development that they saw in their players. Having seen the way that both Miroslav Bojko and Diego Simeone had approached the development of not only the Philippine national men's football team, but the U-19, U-21, and U-23 men's football teams as well. However, the biggest challenge facing the Philippine Football Federation was the lack of a professional football league that would allow the development of Filipino football as a whole. Thus, back in 2016, the Philippine Major League Football was formed, with the Premier League as the top league, but the National League as its bottom feeder league. With the gradual political and economic reforms of both the Grace Poe presidency, and the later Loren Legarda presidency taking root in the Philippines, there was more money to be invested into various sports leagues. Ironically, the Tadiar-era military-supported sports clubs that arose in the Philippines had become the bedrock of the eventual successes that most Filipino athletes had banked on, especially in football, where the Armed Forces Sports Club had control over all of the sports teams that it managed. However, as a means of moving away from the dark period of the Tadiar dictatorship, there were calls to abolish the AFSC organization, and to fully professionalize all the sports teams in the Philippines, but to no avail. The main focus on fitness, endurance, and focus was instrumental in helping the Filipino football players to develop into international stars, though very few of the Filipino players on the roster played in Europe, the reason being that racism and discrimination were still prevalent in certain areas of Europe that struggled to deal with the issue of migrants and refugees. Only in the Balkan region, Poland, and Turkey, could anyone find a Filipino player playing for clubs in those areas. One notable rising Midfielder that played for the national team was Jaime Nacpil, who was a former Tadiar Youth member that later became an influential star. Nacpil would first play for Aguinaldo Imus F.C. in 2013, but only for a short time, before being scouted and signed by the Turkish First League club, Erzurumspor F.K. In addition to Nacpil, there was also Ante Jurajevic-Ablog, who was a known Right Fullback star and was personally advised by Miroslav Bojko to play for the Philippines, even though he was still waiting to be called up for the Croatia national men's football team.

The generation that eventually played a role in the qualification of the Philippines into the 2018 FIFA World Cup had grown up knowing the turbulent period of military dictatorship, followed by an unfinished conflict in northeastern Asia, and the death of Artemio Tadiar, before experiencing the transition from another military junta, this time led by Hector Tarrazona, to the first post-junta democracy that allowed the Philippines to get over its national trauma. This ability to move forward had motivated the revamped Filipino national men's football team to play to their heart's content during the qualifying rounds, but the beginning of their qualification campaign started off on a rough patch, as they were placed in the same group as the likes of Syria, Thailand, Indonesia, and Turkmenistan. They lost the first match against Syria, but managed to win several more before tying one, though this time against regional neighbor and fellow emerging football powerhouse Indonesia. The third round of the AFC Qualification campaign for the 2018 FIFA World Cup would see the Philippines being grouped with South Korea, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Tajikistan. In what is becoming a strange trend, the Philippines would develop a surprise football rivalry with Uzbekistan and Vietnam, over high scoring matches that would shock even seasoned UEFA national teams. For example, on June 12, 2017, in time for Philippine Independence Day, the Philippines would play a match against Uzbekistan in AEON Manila-Pacific Stadium, in front of a sold out crowd. The Uzbekistan-Philippines match though, would end in a 4-4 tie, with both Jaime Nacpil and Eldor Shomurodov scoring two goals a piece. Unfortunately, the Philippines were placed in third place in the Third Round, meaning that they had to play in the Fourth Round, which happened to be against China. The Fourth Round became notorious for having both matches played with zero spectators, as diplomatic ties between China and the Philippines remained on a war footing, courtesy of the late Arturo Tolentino's refusal to sign the peace treaty with the Chinese on concluding the Spratly Island conflict that led to the Chinese aerial bombing of the Philippines and his subsequent murder while returning to the Philippines from Germany. Luckily for the Philippines, the Chinese national men's football team were struggling on the pitch, as they went through a whopping four coaches within a span of 18 months, as government corruption in football was a sore point for them. Although the first match played in Beijing had ended in a 0-0 tie, ultimately it was the second match that later became a factor in the Philippines officially qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, as DF Wang Shenchao had tripped Nacpil inside the box, leading to the penalty kick that resulted in Ante Jurajevic-Ablog's golden goal. So while the Philippines now won the fourth round, they would now play in the Inter-continental playoff round, where they would face fourth placed Panama in two matches. November 10, 2017, was the first match played in Panama. The Philippines won that match 2-0, but lost the second match 1-0 against the same Panamaian team, but advanced on an away goal advantage." From 'Street Dogs of War: The Philippines at the 2018 FIFA World Cup'.

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"As it stands, Poland, the Balkans and Turkey are the only areas in Europe where you could find Filipino players playing for those clubs. However, even there, the Filipino players endured racism and discrimination, as most of the football ultras didn't like the idea of non-European players dominating their clubs. It was bad enough that Legia Warsaw's ultras were taunting African players, but it was way worse with Filipinos. To this date, not a single Western and Northern European country is willing to allow Filipinos to play in its clubs, even in the second and third tier stages. Thanks to the Philippines signing that thug Diego Simeone as their assistant coach, the English clubs would often refuse to sign Filipinos, in due part because they feared that the Filipino players would play like Simeone himself in his heyday. I don't blame them, as memories of the Yokohama Brouhaha were still fresh, even to this day, as well as our rivalry with Argentina. The funny thing is, most of those Filipinos that are shunned in Europe are playing in Latin America and in other parts of Asia. Heck, it was thanks to Simeone that you'd find random Filipino players in Argentine and even Brazilian clubs, and both Brazil and Argentina are passionate about their players. It's sad that our own history with Diego Simeone has prevented the English clubs from attracting Filipino players, because their passion for the game could have won them fans in England, where another segment of the Filipino migrant population is living and working. However, the Spanish clubs on all levels are sending their scouts to the Philippines, in order to keep an eye on potential talent. The Mexicans are also sending their own scouts as well, and ditto with the Americans too. I mean, Asia is an untapped market for football, and we don't get to see a lot of Asian players shine because of various factors, but there's more Korean and Chinese football players playing in the Russian clubs than there are Filipinos and Indonesians in Latin American clubs, and that's saying something if anti-Asian sentiment in Europe lingers." Owen Hargreaves, commenting on the unofficial cold war between English clubs and the Philippine Football Federation, upon hearing the news of the Philippine national men's football team hiring former Argentine international star Diego Simeone, 2015.

Most importantly though, you'd have a radically different trajectory for Philippine sports overall. As I've said in the original version of TL, Philippine basketball would be gutted beyond repair.

One other possible benefit of Philippine football ITTL is their exposure to Latin American clubs would also garner support for closer ties to the wider Hispanic world.