This week’s commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the declaration of Philippine Independence presents us with a good opportunity to reflect on what is happening to our nation. As an independent, democratic country working to achieve sustainable economic development for our people, we are also dealing with numerous challenges and threats to our sovereignty and integrity.
Foremost among these are China’s aggressive acts in the West Philippine Sea, where it continues to act like a bully, ignoring the fact that no less than the Permanent Court of Arbitration has recognized and upheld the Philippines’ sovereign rights there.
Toward this end, we receive with hope and optimism the words of newly appointed Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro.
“Our territory is our territory, and UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) cannot be changed by the passage of time, nor changes in administration,” he said in his first press briefing upon taking office.
He talked about what China should do as a stronger country. “It has the bigger obligation to be magnanimous and show trust and earn the trust of the Filipino people by conforming its activities to recognize norms of international law, which in our case is UNCLOS.”
Teodoro had led the DND during the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and is expected to provide much-needed policy stability and continuity of efforts to maintain our defense posture. Given the current situation in the West Philippine Sea, Teodoro now acknowledges the need for some transition in national defense, “without sacrificing the gains in internal security, to external defense.”
President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has refocused into a more externally oriented defense posture. During his speech at the 125th anniversary celebration of the Philippine Navy, Marcos said: “Considering the changing tides of our national security and the significant gains that we have made in terms of internal security, our armed forces is working to recalibrate its focus more towards external defense of our borders.”
The pronouncement is aligned with Mr. Marcos’ attempt to distance himself from his immediate predecessor’s “independent” foreign policy stance. I use quotation marks to emphasize that Rodrigo Duterte’s position was, in fact, skewed toward the appeasement of China and thus hardly independent.
President Marcos has assured Filipinos that only the national interest will govern his administration’s foreign policy.
So, is the recalibration of our national defense strategy from internal to external aligned with our national interest?
Building up our external posture means fortifying our position before the community of nations instead of simply allowing ourselves to get caught in the middle of the competition between China and the United States. After all, the world has ceased to be bipolar where only two major powers compete for supremacy and dominance. Our world is, instead, multipolar, with numerous independent states coexisting peacefully, affirming their democratic values and committing to uphold a rules-based international order.
These like-minded states are our real friends with whom we should strengthen our strategic partnership in bilateral, minilateral, and multilateral terms. They share our vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. During their 49th summit last month in Hiroshima, Japan, the G7 — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the US — expressed their strong support for and recognition of our 2016 arbitral victory. A strong message against China’s refusal to recognize an internationally recognized legal process that declared China’s violations of Philippine sovereign rights in its Exclusive Economic Zone and that the “nine-dash” in the South China Sea has no legal basis.
If the court in The Hague decided in our favor, and if the G7 is on our side, then we must be in the right. These should embolden us as our national and defense leaders plan on how to deal with China’s threatening acts. We take heart in the fact that our allies are there to help boost our capability to protect ourselves and assert our sovereignty.
As an example, earlier this month, from June 1 to 7, we had the first trilateral maritime exercises with the US Coast Guard and the Japan Coast Guard in the waters off Mariveles.
And then, despite reports that Chinese vessels had removed our navigational buoys in waters off Balagtas (Irving) Reef and Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, they remain there. The Philippine Coast Guard also placed buoys in Patag (Flat) Island, Kota (Loaita) Island, and Panata Island (Lankiam Cay). Last year, the Philippines also put buoys off Lawak (Nanshan) Island, Likas (West York) Island, Parola Island (Northeast Cay), and Pag-asa (Thitu) Island. These navigational yellow buoys that bear the markings of the Philippine flag do not only serve as an aid to navigation for fishermen and mariners to steer them away from shallow water. They also serve as sovereign markers.
External defense means looking outward, but always mindful of what is in our core — that is, the interest of the Filipino people. It means maintaining a firm, consistent, and uncompromising position that says “It is unacceptable” for other countries to violate our sovereignty and flex their military muscle in our own waters despite being already told they have no right to be there. It means cooperating economically with countries that are actually our most beneficial trading and investment partners. It means fostering a law-abiding environment conducive to investments and public-private partnerships that will foster prosperity in the region.
It means dealing with the outside world confidently, aware of what is good for us, and firm about what we will not tolerate from others. It means cherishing friendships with those who share the democratic values and principles that we hold dear.
We must remember that we fought so hard over many years for the independence we now enjoy. We must fight equally hard so that it is not taken from us by anyone ever again. A belated yet meaningful Happy Independence Day to our country and to all of us who fiercely love it.
Victor Andres “Dindo” C. Manhit is the president of the Stratbase ADR Institute.