After President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. made a strong statement on the issue on the West Philippine Sea (WPS), he must convince Filipinos that the country needs to invest more on its defense.

Professor Renato de Castro, a political analyst from the De La Salle University, explained that the Philippines must come up with a blueprint to prepare the nation over external threats, including the issue on the WPS.

Convincing the citizenry that the country needs to invest more on defense is among the efforts the President must make to counter possible moves from China in the future.

“Kaya dapat paghandaan natin ito. Ang pinaka-ano talaga diyan (We have to prepare for this. What's really key there) is we have to come out with a blueprint on how we can prepare the whole nation, it’s a whole-of-nation approach. We have to build up,” De Castro said in a forum in Quezon City on Saturday, Aug. 12.

“Of course, we have to give also credit to the President ‘no? Every time he delivers a speech sa Armed Force of the Philippines, sinasabi niya ang threat natin nasa labas na (he is saying that the treats are outside), the Armed Forces of the Philippines would have to focus on geopolitics, kasi ang challenge naman talaga sa labas (because the challenges is outside the country)," De Castro added.

"So, ayan iyong challenge natin (So that's our challenge), we have to tell the Filipino nation that the challenge would be long.  It will be primarily maritime in nature, and our goal is to ensure that the Philippines develops a powerful maritime capability,” he further said.

The analyst stressed that the country has to build up the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), underscoring that in order for the nation to do that, it must have a very stable economy, industries, and power generation capacity.

"Basically, the government has to convince every Filipino on the need to invest more on defense," the political analyst pointed out.

He cited that up to this day, the Philippines still has the lowest defense budget in Southeast Asia.

This should be incorporated in a national security strategy, which, in the case of the current administration, can cover about five to six years, he said, saying that “but it will be the beginning, kaya sabi nga ng mga Chinese (as what the Chinese say) ‘a thousand miles journey begins with a single step.’”

He further stressed that the first single step is to prepare the nation and tell them what the challenges are.

“Katulad nga palagi kong sinasabi (Like what I always say), the Philippines is an archipelagic state. The Filipino nation is a maritime nation. Ang future ng ating bansa is (The future of the country is), of course, developing our maritime capabilities and, of course, harnessing our maritime resources,” he said.

Last week, the President said he is not aware of any agreement that the Philippines will remove its own ship from its territory. If an agreement exists, he says: I rescind that agreement as of now.

His statement came as a response to China's claim that the Philippines has promised to remove the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal, which has been on the country's exclusive economic zone.