The Marcos administration already has officials serving as spokesperson on issues related to the West Philippine Sea—raising questions on why the President designated a new voice that will talk about maritime issues on the disputed waters.

"Unified messaging" is what President Marcos wanted to achieve in addressing issues related to the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

This prompted him to tap ex-military official Alexander Lopez as spokesperson of the National Maritime Council (NMC).

Four days after his appointment was announced by Malacañang, Lopez, a former commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Western Command, made his first public briefing where he also explained the reason behind his appointment.

Presidential Assistant on Maritime Concerns Andres Centino said that Lopez's designation "is in line with the directive to have a unified messaging" on issues related to the WPS.

"His designation authorizes him to speak in behalf of the National Maritime Council and without prejudice, of course, to the roles of the different spokespersons of the agencies under the National Maritime Council," Centino said in a Palace briefing on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

Lopez pointed out that while the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) and National Security Council (NSC) have officials directly speaking on the issues related to WPS, particularly on incidents involving vessels of the Philippines and China, his role as NMC spokesman is "very clear."

"[I]t’s very clear that my role, I will be … at the policy level, that’s my role. So the spokespersons of the lower agencies will speak on their behalf, speak on their mandate," Lopez said.

"For example, if there is a spokesperson for the coast guard affairs in West Philippine Sea, he will just speak on matters of the coast guard activities in the West Philippine Sea. In like manner, if it's the AFP, they will speak on military defense matters on West Philippine Sea; and no policy matters will be discussed at their level kasi nasa level namin iyon ‘no (because that is within our level)," Lopez further explained.

"Kasi (Because) sometimes, when things are being said inaccurately, so nagkakaroon ng ano ‘di ba, hindi maganda sa pananaw at pandinig ng ating taumbayan (which leads to unpleasant perspective) and even to our legislator," he added.

What triggered the appointment?

Centino revealed that the NMC saw the need to designate a spokesperson after the second Maritime Council meeting, where Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin called for a media briefing at the height of the issues surrounding the incident in Ayungin Shoal between the Philippines and China that injured Filipino troopers.

It can be recalled that during that briefing held on June 21, Bersamin said that the violent resupply mission was a misunderstanding and not an armed attack.

However, after a few days, Marcos backpedaled on Malacañang's statement.

The President then clarified that upon reviewing the actual events during the incident, he dismissed that it was a misunderstanding, but he stood by the Palace's initial statement that it was not an armed attack simply because no one fired a shot.

"You may recall that previously, after the second Maritime Council Meeting and there was a press conference, it was the chairman of the council, Secretary Bersamin, who spoke in behalf of the council. And succeeding statements were also given by the members of the council, and they saw it fit that the council should have its own spokesperson," Centino said.

"So in line with what I have said, unified messaging in all matters of policy in regard to the issues in the West Philippine Sea, it is also fitting a designated spokesperson will speak in behalf of the Maritime Council," Centino added.

He also cited that with the instruction that the spokesperson will now speak on matters of policy, Centino said he sees the wisdom of the council’s guidance to have a designated spokesperson.

"And I would suppose that this will also address, perhaps, some shortfalls in the way we project the message to the public," he said.

In announcing his designation, Malacañang said Lopez will speak on behalf of the NMC on issues surrounding the West Philippine Sea (WPS). He was designated to the position last Aug. 6.

Lopez served as the commander of the Western Command of the AFP from 2014 to 2016, or during the term of the late former president Benigno Aquino III.

It can be recalled that in March this year, the NMC was created by the President through Executive Order (EO) No. 57 with the aim of strengthening the Philippines’ maritime security and increasing maritime domain awareness among Filipinos amid China’s aggressive tactics and threats in the WPS.

Before the appointment, Lopez served as DOE undersecretary from 2018 to 2022; consultant of the same agency from 2017 to 2018; and security consultant of ABS-CBN Corp. from 2016 to 2018.  

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