The Philippines cannot afford another amateur hour in dealing with major national issues, including foreign relations and defending the country's sovereignty, in the next administration, experts said.
"We are entering a completely new era. We cannot afford amateur hour and we saw over the past few years what amateur hour has caused," Richard Heydarian, a professor and a policy adviser said during the TAPATan forum organized by opposition coalition 1Sambayan on Wednesday, March 9.
"For the next President, get someone who has sense of dignity, basic sense of patriotism, at medyo naiintindihan niya ang mundo (someone who understands the world) and someone who's not controversial abroad in the wrong way or someone who is not facing court cases," Heydarian added.
Discussing the implications of the war between Russia and Ukraine to the country, Renato de Castro, a professor on international studies and National Security Adviser consultant, emphasized the need for a political leadership as the country is expected to suffer long term problems due to the war happening in Europe.
"I would like to emphasize the importance of political leadership: We should have the political leadership who has the foresight and the moral courage to lead the country especially in this time of crisis," De Castro said.
Retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, 1Sambayan lead convenor, underscored that the Philippines cannot afford to follow the moves of President Duterte in protecting the country's maritime territories, particularly the issue on West Philippine Sea against China.
"So, in the May 2022 elections, we must elect a president who will perform the primordial constitutional duty of the President as the commander in chief of the Armed Forces to defend Philippine territory and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea and elsewhere," Carpio said.
War will not stay in Ukraine and Russia
The new leadership will be crucial for the country as it may possibly have to deal with the war spreading in other parts of the world, according to De Castro.
"The war will not stay in Ukraine. The war will not stay in Europe. It will spread to other part of the world," he said.
"This is something crucial and this is where the future leadership after the election would have to take into account. For the new government to accept the reality that Russia's war against Ukraine will not stay in Ukraine and in Europe but will spread elsewhere," he said.
De Castro further said that the new leadership, which must have the vision, moral courage, and conviction, must prepare the Filipino nation for this coming strategic contagion.
He said the country will need to have a leader who will "navigate a very stormy period in international relations" and someone who would be conscious of the need to fight for what the country own and its rights.
Ensure China won't use Russian invasion to encroach on PH maritime territories
Carpio emphasized that the best foreign policy for the Philippines' national interest is a foreign policy that will protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity and preserve world peace.
He stressed that the best foreign policy for the country amid the ongoing war is "to ensure that China will not use the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a precedent to encroach on Philippine island territories and maritime zones in the West Philippine Sea" and that "the United Nations (UN) Charter, which prohibits and outlaws the use of force to settle dispute between states, will not be overturned."
This fundamental principle in the UN charter, he said, is what prevents wars by protecting weaker states and restraining stronger states and thereby preserving world peace.
"The only known antidote that the weak states can use against invasion or annexation by a powerful neighboring state is a mutual defense security with other states to provide a balance of power," Carpio said.
The Philippines, he added, has a mutual defense treaty with the United States (US) that provides a balance of power in the West Philippine Sea for the Philippines in relation to China.
"The US has reiterated time and again that any attack on a Philippine public vessel at the South China Sea, which includes the West Philippine Sea, will trigger the operation of the mutual defense treaty," he said.
"Russia's invasion of Ukraine may embolden China to become aggressive in the West Philippine Sea, so the Philippines must learn to leverage the mutual defense treaty with the US, defending the Philippines' exclusive economic zone and island territories in the West Philippine Sea against China," he added.
Heydarian explained that Russia and China are using the same approach.
He said that Russian President Vladimir Putin is using "historical language" in ways that China has been using "historical language" in the West Philippine Sea.
"Putin has concocted all these ideas that Ukraine is a fake country, it doesn't exist, therefore its aggression is justifiable supposedly. The Chinese has been saying similar things about South China Sea--essentially saying that none of us had civilization back in the day, they're the only civilization, therefore all of these belong to them and that is why even though they lost the UNCLOS case, they're saying that their historical argument stands," Heydarian said.
"This is a very dangerous situation where major powers are concocting fake narratives in order to justify aggression against smaller neighbors," Heydarian added.
What PH should do amid the Russian-Ukraine war?
During the forum, De Castro also recommended policies and actions the government must do amid the ongoing war, which could also be an opportunity for the country to repair its "damaged relationship this administration has done with the European Union (EU) and other EU member states."
"We have to condemn Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine as a clear violation of the UN Charter and as a direct cause of the most severe humanitarian crisis of the 21st century in the United Nations and other international forums," De Castro said.
He also recommended the country to open its doors to both Ukrainian and Russian refugees, citing the country's tradition of welcoming refugees that started during the time of President Manuel L. Quezon.
He also encouraged the government to extend immediate humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees through the European Union and EU member-states.
"Let's engage them in a humanitarian venture. We have to save our national honor by being involved in this," he said.