Senator Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday, May 16,  urged the Philippine government to once and for all define its strategy on the West Philippine Sea, saying it must lay out a clear strategy for maintaining the country’s territorial right to the contested area. In a manifestation during the confirmation hearing of the ad-interim appointments of fifty (50) General and Flag Officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Cayetano said the country lacks a well-defined strategy because the approach switches every time there is a new administration. “Kung gusto ng isang presidenteng sobra-sobrang pro-China, gusto ng isa sobra-sobrang anti-China, gusto ng isa sobra-sobrang pro-US, y’ung isa anti-US, ay parang pwede sa ating bansa (If one President is a full pro-China, another is fully anti-China, one is fully pro-US, another is anti-US, it is as if it is OK for our country),” he observed. “If every administration iba ang strategy natin (has a different strategy), that’s a recipe for failure,” he added. Cayetano said rather than just allowing the chief advisory unit of the President to craft and implement the strategy, the military leaders of the country must “continue to be critical thinkers” and involve themselves, along with the country’s diplomats, in the decision-making process. “Yes, they have to follow orders kung ano ang strategy na inilahad ng commander-in-chief (what is the strategy laid down by the Commander-in- Chief) , [however] in other countries, the military establishment is so strong that the swing of the [command] ng Pangulo sa strategy (of the President’s strategy) is also limited. Sa atin, parang unlimited (To us it is unlimited),” he said. Cayetano, who served as Foreign Affairs Secretary from 2017 to 2018, said it would also help if the country would make a long-term plan that would serve as a blueprint for the next one hundred or even one thousand years. “When I was in the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs), I kept on telling our people in the DFA to stop complaining na ang (that)  China may one-hundred (100) year plan at one-thousand (1,000) year plan and [Instead] start making the Philippine one-hundred (100) year plan and the Philippine one-thousand (1,000) year plan,” he said. “Very, very clear kung ano ang strategy ng China (China’s strategy is very clear) Very, very clear din kung ano ang strategy ng US (the US strategy also also very lear) pero very, very unclear kung ano ang strategy natin (but the country’s strategy is very unclear),” he added. Cayetano said the government must also look at history to see how the Philippines could get entangled in global power struggles if it does not set a specific long-term strategy. “I’m very concerned about that kasi (because) we have to look at history. Look what happened sa Cuba when they got in between the US and the USSR, look what happened with Turkey n’ung maglalagay din ng missiles d’un ang US (when the US also installed missile in Türkiye),” he said. While Cayetano emphasized that the government must not discuss its strategy in public to keep its confidentiality, he said the people need to know that the government indeed has something up its sleeves. “I disagree na ilahad ‘yan in public kasi hindi magandang strategy na pinapakita mo sa katunggali mo ang strategy mo I disagree with making public our strategy because our enemy will know),” he said. “But kung mismong top level people din sa House at sa Senate ay hindi rin alam for sure kung ano ang strategy natin, eh problema y’un (A problem arises when leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives do not know for sure what is our strategy),” he added