The country’s row with China on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) needs to be treated not just as a security matter but also as a serious economic threat, making it a must for the current and next administrations to “manage the dispute with respect to continuing business relations,” according to Francisco del Rosario, president of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP).
“We cannot completely shut out China from the economic landscape. Instead, we need to improve our relations with them by initiating trade and investment missions, dialogues and conferences. Currently, there’s almost nothing that’s happening,” del Rosario said.
Speaking at the Stratbase Albert Del Rosario (ADR) Institute National Security Forum, the MAP president said China has emerged as one of the biggest markets for the Philippines, accounting for 11.4 percent of the country’s exports, or about $6.4 billion.
“Globally, they’re the current top source of tourists, but only fourth in the Philippines because of this ongoing dispute,” he said.
Prof. Dindo Manhit, ADR Institute president and managing director of the Stratbase, said the ongoing territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea has drawn attention to the government’s slow implementation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’s modernization and will be a strategic issue that should be carefully addressed by the next government and the Asean as a group.
“The NSP [National Security Policy] falls short of defining the role and rationale of the armed forces, as well as the national police and other civilian uniformed agencies in national security,” said Prof. Ananda Almase of the National Defense College of the Philippines.
“The country’s National Security Policy should provide a clear definition of goals that should guide the formulation of strategy and that the policy guidelines issued by the president does not have the military element that fills out our capability for deterrence and defense,” Almase said.
Dr. Renato de Castro, ADR Institute convener and professor of international studies at the De La Salle University, said the involvement of the US and Japan in the ongoing territorial row would further complicate and prolong the issue. “This is making China more belligerent and more uncompromising, so it will be a concern for the successor to President Aquino. The challenge for the next administration is to continue the challenge against China’s expansion,” de Castro said.
“If China succeeds in pushing their defense line to the second-island chain, the Philippines will fall under it. It will push out the seventh fleet, and Japan is going to be very worried about the situation,” said former Parañaque Rep. Roilo Golez, who served as chairman of the House Committee on National Defense.