As the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China heats up, there is but one strategy that must be done to defend the country's interests in the West Philippine Sea (WPS): military build up.
This was bared by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on Sunday, May 2, as Beijing continues to defy calls by top defense and foreign affairs officials to recall their vessels in the WPS.
"In all honesty, what the Philippines needs to do is to build up its military capability," said Esperon, chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), when asked what is needed for the administration of President Duterte to defend the disputed waters.
However, the top security adviser admitted that modernizing the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is not an easy undertaking as he foresees that the military will be capable enough to stand on its own "five to 10 years from now."
The AFP is continuously upgrading its capabilities by acquiring modern assets. The latest acquisitions were the two missile-capable frigates from South Korea.
But China has already achieved much in building up its military which, security experts said, is easily catching up with world superpower United States.
In April, the NTF-WPS said more than 240 Chinese vessels -- including military warships, Coast Guard ships, and maritime militia boats -- were found dispersed in the WPS and parts of Kalayaan Island Group (Spratly Islands).
On Sunday, a source from the NTF-WPS said that there remained nine Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef, 93 vessels at Chigua (Johnson South) Reef, 50 vessels at Burgos (Gaven) Reef, and 50 vessels at Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef. These are all located in the WPS.
Chinese fishing vessels are often accompanied by powerful warships from the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) and Coast Guard (PCG) to protect them as they haul tons of fishes. Two missile-capable frigates even chased down and drove away a crew of Filipino journalists sailing near Ayungin Shoal as they tried to access the waters.
In Kalayaan Island Group (KIG), the Philippines maintains nine detachments to assert its claims in the area.
These are Pagasa Island, the biggest of all outposts and seat of power in the Kalayaan municipality which is located 230 nautical miles from the nearest shoreline in Palawan; Zamora (Subi) Reef, 14 nautical miles from Pagasa Island; Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, 99 nautical miles from Pagasa; Kagitingan (Fiery Cross) Reef, 112 nautical miles from Pagasa; Ligaw (Itu Aba) Island, 39 nautical miles from Pagasa; Pugad (Southwest) Reef, 23 nautical miles from Pagasa; Timog (South) Reef, 20 nautical miles from Pagasa; Antonio Luna (Ardasier) Reef, 160 nautical miles from Balabac, Palawan; and Pawikan (Investigator) Shoal, 142 nautical miles from Balabac, Palawan.
These features are all being claimed by the Philippines and are located within its 370 km exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
However, China is claiming ownership of the Zamora, Panganiban, and Kagitingan reefs as it built artificial islands and fortified it with military installations including a three-kilometer runway on each feature.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled in favor of the Philippines' claims in the West Philippine Sea and thrashed China's so-called nine-dash line claims over 80 percent of areas in the South China Sea.
But China did not honor the ruling and their recent presence in the other features in WPS raised Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana's suspicion that the East Asian superpower is also trying to occupy them.
Since the sighting of Chinese vessels at the Julian Felipe Reef in March, the government has deployed ships and aircraft from the Philippine Navy, Philippine Air Force, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and Philippine National Police's Maritime Group (MG) to conduct sovereignty patrols in the WPS.
The United States has also come into the defense of the Philippines, a long-time ally, as it vowed military support when the need arises.
But as the government continues to build up its own military, Esperon said it must utilize all in its arsenal to defend the nine detachments at the Kalayaan Island Group, and, thus, in the entire WPS.
"We do not have the intention to go and fight them kasi wala tayong (because we have no) capability. So what we can do now is to defend our nine detachments," Esperon said.