The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is again planning to establish a maritime militia in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), a move that had been proposed three years ago by the Philippine Navy (PN).

If the plan pushes through, AFP Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said military reservists will be trained to operate in the WPS, and the inclusion of fisherfolk in the reserve force will be prioritized.

“What we want is for our fisherfolk to become reservists so we can train them how to defend our country,” Brawner told reporters during his visit to the headquarters of the AFP’s Western Command in Palawan on Thursday, August 10.

The plan to build a maritime militia in the WPS was proposed in 2020 by then Navy chief Giovanni Carlo Bacordo.

In Bacordo’s plan, the Navy was to recruit and arm 120 fishermen who would compose the first batch of the AFP's maritime CAFGU Active Auxiliaries (CAAs) in WPS. 

At the time, numerous reports of China’s incursion in the WPS had already been reported to the military.

The principle of having maritime militia is the same as having CAAs or irregular military force multipliers on land.

This was not the first time though that the AFP created a maritime militia as these were established in Western Mindanao and Eastern Mindanao in 2014.

The AFP’s planned maritime militia is expected to match up with the presence of Chinese maritime militia vessels in the WPS.

Chinese maritime militia vessels are often accompanied by China Coast Guard (CCG) or People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy ships in the WPS to drive away foreign vessels, including those from the Philippines.

The latest incident happened last August 5 when Chinese coast guard and navy performed dangerous maneuvers and fired water cannons at Philippine vessels supplying troops in Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal while their maritime militia vessels formed a blockade to stop the mission from advancing.