FIRST PERSON Frontliner

The Philippines’ defense posture improved dramatically in literally a few weeks. The historic trilateral summit meeting held in Washington forged a strong security partnership between the US, Japan and the Philippines. The security partnership agreed upon by the three leaders is seen by analysts to be just a notch short of a NATO-type defense arrangement.

In addition, the three countries pledged intensified development cooperation – especially in building the Luzon Economic Corridor. This corridor – from Clark in Pampanga to the Batangas port – represents the most dynamic area in the Philippines. The three regions covered here, abstracted from the rest of the country, have a per capita GDP exceeding that of Malaysia. It will benefit from dramatically increased infrastructure support and investment flows from our partners.

Currently ongoing, the annual Balikatan military exercises is the largest ever held. About 16 countries are participating either by sending troops or observers to the exercise. This underscores the greater attention paid by the world’s powers to the situation in the South China Sea. Notably, the US is bringing in some of its most advanced missile systems to the exercise.

This week, France has offered to initiate talks for a separate Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between our two countries. The proposed VFA will supplement the existing agreement we have with the US. It opens the door to more such agreements to be forged with other allies.

Beijing is certainly not happy with the breathtaking improvement of our defense posture. Her diplomats hector us at every turn, often intruding into our sovereign security decisions. But the wider global attention given to the situation in the South China Sea is due in large part to aggressive action taken by China in the contested area. This situation is the outcome of encompassing territorial claims by China that have no basis in international law.

The enhanced defense posture adopted by the Marcos administration is certainly a departure from the more passive posture adopted by the previous administration. It certainly has better support from our public. Filipinos prefer closer cooperation with the US and Japan over a submissive partnership with China.

With our enhanced defense posture, we firmly take our place as part of the “First Island Chain” extending from Japan to Taiwan to our territorial waters. This security alliance should help deter any aggressive design on the part of China.

There is a global geopolitical context underscoring the strategic importance of the more robust security networks we are part of.

Over the past few years, the world appears to have regressed back to a bipolar condition. On one end, we have the alliance of democracies led by the US, the EU and the more democratically inclined nations of the Indo-Pacific. On the other end, a clear axis of tyrannies has emerged including Russia, China, Iran and North Korea.

The axis of tyrannies has been more aggressive of late.

In 2014, Russia annexed parts of Ukraine. Two years ago, Moscow launched full-scale invasion of her peaceful neighbor.

Moscow’s newfound appetite for expansionism, left unchecked, will threaten the independence of the Baltic state and even Poland. Faced by stubborn Ukrainian resistance, Moscow has found itself in a costly war of attrition. Russia has relied on Iran to supply it with drones and on North Korea to supply it with artillery shells.

Although Beijing has not explicitly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it has not denounced the clear act of aggression either. It is believed that China, apart from helping keep Russia’s economy afloat by purchasing her raw material exports, also sends Moscow electronic components necessary to replace Russia’s depleted weaponry.

Iran has spent billions supporting militias across the Middle East, from Yemen to Syria. These militias – including the Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah – perform as foot soldiers helping Iran carve out a large sphere of influence in the region.

Iran’s costly effort to carve out a sphere of influence alarms the Saudis and the Jordanians. It eclipses Turkey’s own efforts to be the dominant regional power. Tehran enlarges its network of militias by committing to the destruction of Israel. The gospel of antisemitic hatred Tehran preaches has brought war to the region.

North Korea may be an outlier state. But its obsession with upgrading its missile technologies, acquiring nuclear weapons capabilities, is guided by hatred towards the US. Pyongyang is working feverishly to build large missiles capable of hitting the US mainland. Its shrill rhetoric keeps the situation in the North Pacific in a permanent state of tension.

China, for its part, keeps the situation along the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea constantly volatile. Beijing does not discount use of force to bring Taiwan under its rule. China’s military continuously runs drills around the island of Taiwan to keep this democratic nation under duress.

Beijing deployed a large naval force to assert its territorial claims over all of the South China Sea. That has brought China into confrontation with a defiant Philippines. Skirmishes have happened in the contested reefs and these are likely to intensify in the coming period.

The Philippines, with our commitment to democracy and an open society, cannot possibly align with the axis of tyrannies. Our natural disposition is to seek alliances with nations that share our fundamental values.

The same leftist ideologues trying to build proHamas constituencies in US college campuses in the name of “anti-imperialism” are also active in trying to undermine support for our pro-US defense posture. They will not overcome.