The West Philippine Sea Tension

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Local and international news agencies have reported the encroachment of Chinese ships last March 7, 2021, at the Julian Felipe Reef which is inside the Philippines' Exclusive Economic Zone. It was believed that the ships were suspected militia boats and not fishing vessels. The number of ships is about 200 plus.

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/781511/lorenzana-on-chinese-ships-in-julian-felipe-reef-we-are-ready-to-defend-national-sovereignty/story/

Samples of that news were posted by the following news agencies, Rappler and Reuters on their websites.

If that is true, then China is encroaching on our territory. For us ordinary citizens, it is difficult to ascertain true facts about this because we can't go there and we are not privy to the Philippine military intelligence reports. We only read it on the news. I hope we are in good hands when it comes to the security of our borders.

If we are to think in simple terms, setting aside geopolitics in the South China Sea, it's like we have a next-door neighbor who parked his car on our driveway and pitched his garden set inside our yard without our permission.  Of course, the practical thing to do is to tell our errant neighbor to get out of our yard and bring his car and his garden set with them. In reality, if we are to play hardball with the Chinese, it's not going to be that easy. 

First off, they are a strong country, economically and militarily. It's tough to be tough in this case. Our President himself told us that it is not wise to face them head-on because we won't win if war with them will break out. He probably had a change of heart when he assumed office and saw the gravity of the situation. It was a far cry from his "jet-ski" promise during his election campaign.

Worse, if war breaks out with China and the mutual defense treaty with the United States will be invoked, the Philippines will be caught between the two powerful warring countries with state-of-the-art land, sea, and air weaponry. This is not a good situation for the Philippines. However, war won't break out because it will upset the peace in the entire Southeast Asian region.

Secondly, China has some sort of hold on us. It has invested a lot in our economy, so it will also be a difficult situation. One example, if it is true, is its stake in the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, which is related to our power infrastructure.

At the moment, our best option is to maintain our non-aligned posture, use international diplomacy, avoid war as possible and still maintain our sovereignty. As an ordinary citizen, those statements are easy to say but in reality, it is difficult. I just want to contribute to the civil discourse about this matter.

I do hope our defense establishment and our government can handle this situation well without resorting to war and still maintain our self-respect in the eyes of the international community. I really don't enjoy the idea of the Chinese military landing on Manila Bay and later on, we are forced to learn Fookien or Mandarin. We have had enough of our share of foreign domination in our history. That was just an afterthought and I do hope it won't happen.





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