The Philippines must take advantage of its allies in terms of conducting joint maritime operations, considering its limited resources in strengthening its capacity against possible attacks.
This was what Retired Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong, a maritime security expert, believed in as he noted that the Philippines "has only finite capabilities" to address various threats.
"Objectively speaking... di naman tayo mayaman na bansa (we're not a rich country), we need to work with other counties," he said, without referring to any country in particular.
Under President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.’s administration, the Philippine military alliance with the US has been strengthened, mostly due to the chief executive’s great appreciation of the Western giant’s reiteration of its defense commitment.
The Philippine partnership with other country to conduct joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea will not necessarily spark conflict with China, the US main competitor in the Indo-Pacific region, but "obviously it will create a tension," Ong said.
"You need to calibrate your actions. It depends on where you will conduct them," Ong said in Filipino, although he added that military personnel must just get to used China's show of force in the waters it still contests.
Currently, China is expanding its military presence not only in the South China Sea but also in other waters that surround it.