Filipinos must feel the presence and relevance of the Department of National Defense (DND) and one way of achieving this is by actively defending the country’s territory.
DND Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. stressed this Monday, Jan. 23, amid the continuing aggressive actions of China in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“The people need to feel our presence and relevance. This is in line with our mandate to preserving the territorial integrity of our nation or protecting the Filipino people with the best way possible,” Galvez said in a speech before DND personnel as he attended his first flag-raising ceremony as the defense chief at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
Galvez said that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. ordered him to make sure that not a single inch of the country’s territory will be ceded to any foreign power, which is reminiscent of the Chief Executive’s pledge to the public during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last year.
Last Jan. 9, Filipino fishermen onboard fishing boat “KEN-KEN” were allegedly driven away by a Chinese Cost Guard (CCG) vessel with bow number 5204 in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal which is located at approximately 105 nautical miles west of Palawan or within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
The PCG said it has already started an investigation on the incident.
On the part of the DND, Galvez said he would have a briefing with National Security Adviser (NSA) Eduardo Ano, who also sits as the chairman of the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), to get the whole picture of what transpired.
“I’m having a briefing right now so sa ngayon hindi pa ako makapagsalita pertaining sa incident sa Ayungin Shoal (right now, I can’t really talk pertaining to the incident in Ayungin Shoal),” Galvez told reporters in an interview.