ARMED Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr yesterday said Filipinos may help in defending the country, specifically in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, through information drive.
Brawner made the statement after a recent survey conducted by the OCTA Research showed 77 percent of adult Filipinos are willing to fight for the country in case a conflict breaks out with another country.
The survey was conducted amid growing tension between the Philippines and China which has turned aggressive in its claim in the South China Sea in the past years, including areas being claimed by the Philippines and four other countries.
China has harassed Philippine military resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal, one of the nine features occupied by Filipino troops in the West Philippine Sea (WPS). The latest harassment occurred last week when four Navy men were injured.
Brawner, on the survey results, said the Armed Forces “appreciates the patriotism of our fellow Filipinos who pledged their willingness to fight for the country.”
“While the AFP is modernizing and continuously preparing to address any threat, whether internal or external, it is also important that the Filipino citizens prepare themselves,” said Brawner.
One of the ways to prepare, Brawner said, by is undergoing the Reserve Officers’ Training Course (ROTC) or by joining the military’s Reserve Corps “in order to be trained in military tactics.”
“Another is through making themselves competent in their professions that may become useful or even vital in case of emergencies, such as in the medical field or in engineering,” he also said.
Brawner said individuals and organizations may also contribute resources, such ships and aircraft, to the military’s “overall defensive campaign.”
“Lastly, our people may help by informing our friends around the world and echoing our call against the illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive tactics that other countries are doing against our country, particularly in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
Brawner did not name any country but was apparently referring to China.
“The ways by which we can help defend our country, other than fighting, are only bound by our imagination. Let us take the result of the survey as a call to action and prepare for when we are called upon by the government to defend the State,” he said.
Brawner also welcomed results of another OCTA survey that showed 88 percent of Filipinos are satisfied with the performance of the Armed Forces. He said it “is an affirmation of the hard work and dedicated service of every soldier, airman, sailor, and marine in the performance of our mandate to the Filipino people.”
‘LONG STRUGGLE’
Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio told Filipinos to get ready for a long struggle with China over the WPS.
“I call this dispute an intergenerational struggle for Filipinos, so I do not see this being resolved anytime soon,” Carpio told the BBC’s World Questions Program Sunday night.
“We have to prepare for a very long struggle. Beijing has clarified these waters are its national territory, which includes the high seas of South China Sea. Of course, the high seas belong to mankind, nobody owns that, but China is claiming all that as its national territory,” he added.
He said the country should steel itself for such a struggle, adding that Beijing has done so over the years despite the flimsy reasoning behind its expansive claim.
Carpio, who was instrumental in the country’s winning a case against China in 2016, said the country should also be mindful of that fact that even if there are other countries — allies and friends — that voice support for Manila’s stance and condemn Beijing’s harassment and aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea, it should also stand on its own in defending the country’s sovereignty and sovereign rights in the said waterway.
He also reminded the public that China now has the world’s largest navy in terms of the number of vessels, aside from being a nuclear power state.
Last year, Carpio called on the Marcos administration to lodge a complaint before China before an international tribunal for its harassment activities against Filipino vessels in the WPS and for the environmental damage wrought on the marine environment by the activities of their fishing vessels.
China claims nearly the entire South China Sea where more than $5 trillion of goods passes annually. It rejected the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the case brought by the Philippines that rejected its sweeping claims in the disputed waterway through its nine-dash line as having no legal or historical basis.
Aside from the Philippines, also claiming parts of the South China Sea are Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan.
‘ROTC NOT THE SOLUTION’
Senate deputy minority leader Risa Hontiveros said mandatory ROTC is not the solution to the WPS problem.
“Do not use the WPS issue for the proposed mandatory ROTC. That is not the only way we can serve our country),” she said in Filipino.
Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said those who oppose the ROTC should find ways to produce more reservists. He said the Philippines can imitate Israel which is a small country but cannot be beaten by any other country due to its strong reserve force.
Sen. Imee Marcos called on the government to exercise restraint and hold more dialogues with Beijing.
“Refrain from issuing strongly-worded statements if all we will do is talk. It is better if we practice restraint even if it hurts. We should hold more dialogues at all levels — at the coast guard, military, Cabinet, the Senate, and all the way to the President,” Marcos said in Filipino in an interview with radio dzBB.
Marcos said the government should train its sights on how to strengthen the country defense systems instead of taking sides with either China or the US.’
The Committee on National Defense and Security is discussing with its House counterparts disagreeing provisions of Senate Bill No. 2455 and House Bill No. 9713 or the Self-Reliant Defense Posture Revitalization Act.
The measure aims to ensure adequate defense assets and hardware for the country by way of locally producing and developing a national defense industry which will lessen the country’s dependence on foreign suppliers. — With Ashzel Hachero and Raymond Africa
