Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito has called on the government to expedite building up defense forces and military equipment in the West Philippine Sea saying China’s military assets now appear to be moving closer to the Philippines’ coastline.

Ejercito issued the call following Sen. Francis Tolentino’s privileged speech on the West Philippine Sea on Wednesday night, December 14, citing the country's need to improve its minimum defense posture to protect its maritime and territorial rights.

“This is already a clear and present danger. Hindi na ito pwedeng balewalain (We cannot shrug this off)," Ejercito said.

"If you saw the most recent pictures of the disputed islands, full blown military bases na. Ang dami na (It's so many). It’s like a city already,” he said.

“Baka magising tayo, pag pinabayaan pa natin ito (We could wake up one morning, if we neglect this), if we continue to be a laggard, baka yung Palawan ma-annex na nila (they can annex Palawan already),” he added.

Ejercito said the government should do well in boosting the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and its modernization program in succeeding years.

Ejercito had earlier helped in restoring the P10-billion worth of funding for the AFP's projects and procurement under Horizon 2 of the AFP modernization program.

“I’m quite proud that we have a Senate that is really fighting for our sovereignty. So, again, next year, maging makulit man tayo (let's be persistent)," the senator said.

"Uulit-ulitin ko, dadagdagan natin ang (I repeat, let's add to the) AFP modernization so that we will have the minimum defense posture that China will respect,” he said.

Ejercito, likewise, urged the national government to procure missiles, advanced combat aircraft, submarines, and naval assets.

He said it is essential for the Philippines to acquire such items to prove it cannot be bullied.

" We will have anti-aircraft missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air, para di nila tayo basta-basta papasukin ng kanilang (so they cannot just enter with) aircraft intrusions,” he said.

While the state has many other priorities to consider, the senator stressed the country’s territorial integrity is “priceless” and should be defended “at all cost.”

“The past few years, the AFP modernization program has always suffered one of the biggest cuts in the budget. Siguro, there are priorities. We are a poor nation. We have to probably fund poverty alleviation programs,” he said.

“But our sovereignty or territorial integrity, this is priceless. We have to fight for it. This is even our sworn duty as public officials: to fight for our territorial integrity and protect our sovereignty at all cost,” he emphasized.