A RANKING official of the National Security Council (NSC) on Wednesday assured those fearful of the continuing incursions of China into the country’s territory that the government has a course of action to take in order to counter the external threat posed by foreign invaders.
“We have a course of action, we can defend our country right now,” said NSC Deputy Director General Vicente Agdamag during Thursday’s Air Power Symposium organized by the Air Force.
He said the action involves a combination of political, legal, diplomatic, military, information, education, economic and practically the whole gamut of activities where all Filipinos have a stake.
Agdamag, a retired Navy admiral, said having a credible defense capability, that the Aquino administration is pursuing with a $1.8-billion budget, means having enough military hardware to pose a risk that would be unacceptable to would-be invaders “that would make them hesitate or equivocate.”
Aside from the announced budget by President Aquino, Agdamag proposed that one-half of 1 percent to 1 percent of the current budget be set aside for the military modernization program.
“We also need to develop our allies even as we pursue a course of action based on peaceful negotiation,” he added.
The South China Sea, where the Spratly group of islands is, is seen as the next flashpoint as China aggressively claims some 75 percent to 90 percent of the area. The Philippines, that has seen some of the shoals and reefs it occupied invaded by Beijing, had brought the case to an arbitral tribunal of the United Nations.
Vietnam, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia are the other claimants to the some portions of the Spratlys.
Agdamag warned that China would not easily let go of its claims to the Spratlys, following the statement of President Xi Jinping during his recent summit with President Barack Obama that the South China Sea is China’s “core interest” on par with Taiwan and Tibet.
The Air Force symposium is the 13th to be held since it started in 1982, but “developments that are reshaping the country’s strategic environment have begun to shift from internal security and disaster response to territorial defense and maritime security concerns,” Lt. Gen. Catalino de la Cruz, Air Force commander, said.
De la Cruz said without a clear understanding of what’s happening out there, or the need to address some growing flashpoints, “we could easily miss out on key opportunities for purposive engagement and affirmative action.”
Since 2011, Agdamag said one of the biggest national security challenges of the country has been the incursions at the West Philippine Sea, that is within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
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