Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
Seven years after the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines in its dispute with China on the West Philippine Sea, Filipinos were asked recently by OCTA Research on the top three measures they believe the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. should prioritize in resolving conflicts in the disputed waters.
The top preference was diplomacy or other peaceful means, according to 70 percent of the 1,200 survey respondents. Yet, the second preference was for the country to assert its territorial rights by military action, which was cited by at least two-thirds of Filipinos, regardless of economic class. In fact, 71 percent, 69 percent, and 68 percent of those in the National Capital Region, Balance Luzon, and Visayas, respectively, also mentioned military action.
Finally – and this jives with the stated preference for military action – the third measure that most Filipinos want to take is increased defense spending that will enable the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to capably protect the country’s territorial waters.
This comes on the heels of efforts to resupply the BRP Sierra Madre, grounded in Ayungin Shoal since 1999, that has served as an outpost manned by the Philippine Navy and Philippine Marines. The first recorded intervention by the Chinese Coast Guard on the resupply of this vessel was in March 2014, an action that was promptly protested by the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs.
Video footage taken by the PCG showed the deployment of water cannons against one of its vessels assigned to resupply last Aug. 5.
On the Chinese embassy’s claim that there was a previous “agreement” by the Philippines to remove the BRP Sierra Madre, President Marcos, who as Chief Executive is the chief architect of the country’s foreign policy, has declared that “if there does exist such an agreement, I rescind that agreement now.”
Days before the recent water cannon incident, the Philippine Senate unanimously passed a Resolution that directs the DFA to undertake a series of diplomatic actions to call attention to the harassment of Filipino fishermen in violation of the Hague Ruling and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It also calls on the DFA to file a resolution with the UN General Assembly “to call for the cessation of all activities that harass Philippine vessels and violate the Philippines established rights in the West Philippine Sea.”
Since The Hague arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the Philippines in July 2016, more than 40 countries have “voiced support for the arbitral proceedings,” acknowledging its findings as “legally binding,” according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI). This includes the European Union and the top countries in the global transparency index.
Evidently, Filipinos support the principle that a self reliant defense capability complements the skillful use of rules-based diplomacy in dispute resolution.
*****
Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
