National security leaders and maritime experts on Tuesday (March 24) said they were committed to “principled restraint, coupled with resolve” in countering increasing Chinese aggression over the disputed West Philippine Sea.
Taking the lead is Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner, who stressed that the Philippines “rejects coercion and unilateral attempts to alter the status quo” over the disputed West Philippine Sea which China claims as part of its territory.
“We promote transparency, counter deception, and expose malign influence,” he said. “We remain committed to peaceful dialogue and diplomatic solutions. When international law is upheld, smaller states are protected…When nations act transparently and responsibly, the Indo-Pacific becomes a region of opportunity rather than rivalry.”
This approach, Brawner stressed, was anchored firmly in the 2016 arbitral award that invalidated Beijing’s sweeping claims across the South China Sea and which is set to mark its 10th anniversary in July this year.
Brawner made the remarks during a high-level conference organized by the Stratbase Institute and the Embassy of Japan to the Philippines to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the normalization of the diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Manila.
Following post-World War II reconciliation and normalization of bilateral ties between the two countries in 1956, Stratbase president and CEO Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit noted how Philippine-Japan relations evolved from being an economic partnership “into one that now plays a critical role in addressing today’s security challenges.”
“This reflects a clear reality: our maritime domain is becoming more contested, and the need to uphold international law has never been more urgent,” Manhit said. “The Philippines and Japan stand as like-minded partners in advancing a Free and Open Indo-Pacific. But a rules-based order is not self-sustaining. It must be defended, reinforced, and practiced.”
The AFP chief of staff said the two countries’ ties have “reached a decisive turning point of emerging as a forward-looking defense relationship.”
One such milestone in this partnership, he said, was the expected arrival of Japanese combat troops for this year’s Balikatan exercises – a first since 1945.
“This year’s Balikatan exercise is significant just for that fact that after 81 years, for the very first time, Japanese combat troops will be on Philippine soil once again,” he said.
Meanwhile, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) commandant Ronnie Gil Gavan said the PCG took cues from Japan’s example “to invest in partnerships, to build capacity among like-minded nations, and to stand with countries that are on the frontlines of that oppression.”
He thanked Japan for “not look(ing) away” from what he characterized as “repeatedly and on record attempts by China to deny our personnel our ability to exercise rights that belong to us under international law.”
In response to these threats, Gavan noted that Japan has helped through through legal and diplomatic channels, international engagements, and concrete support to our capabilities.
He said both the Philippine and Japanese Coast Guards “must continue to speak clearly in every regional and international forum that sovereignty under international law is non-negotiable, and a free and open Indo-Pacific is not impossible.”
Former Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, meanwhile, described joint naval drills and freedom of navigation operations with like-minded nations as “actual enforcement” of the 2016 arbitral award.
He warned that China’s proposal for a “marine nature reserve” at Scarborough Shoal is a “playbook” for future naval base construction, similar to their actions at Mischief Reef.
The former SC justice also reiterated his calls for the government to file for arbitration on the extended continental shelf, asserting that China — being more than 350 nautical miles away — could not win such a case.
At the same time, he expressed pessimism that the Philippines as ASEAN chair could advance negotiations for a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, noting that the 10-member bloc “operates by consensus, and I don’t think there will be a consensus because we have ASEAN members who are very close to China.”
“And in the code of conduct, China wants the Paracel Islands to be excluded, and China and Vietnam will never sign a code of conduct that excludes the Paracels. China wants to exclude Scarborough Shoal, and we will never sign a code of conduct that excludes Scarborough Shoal,” the former justice said.
“So it looks like there will be no code of conduct that will be signed anytime soon,” he said.