The country’s military exercises with the United States and other allied countries is sending a strong and clear message that the Philippines is not alone in pursuing rules-based international order in the West Philippine Sea, an international think tank said.

Stratbase Institute president and chief executive officer Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit is referring to the Balikatan exercises, the largest ever military exercises hosted by the Philippines and started on Monday, April 20.

The Balikatan exercises represent the correct path forward in how the Philippines must handle the ongoing tensions in the West Philippine Sea. It sends a clear and unambiguous message…that the Philippines and its partners are prepared to defend the rules-based international order against coercion, intimidation, and unlawful claims,” said Manhit.

“It affirms that we are not isolated, and that our national security is anchored in strong alliances with nations that uphold international law and share our commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he added.

The war games are participated in by Australia, Japan, Canada, France, and New Zealand aside from the United States.

Manhit issued the statement amid increasingly aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea as it continues to ignore the 2016 arbitral ruling — which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this coming July – that invalidated its sweeping claims over the South China Sea.

“That victory is final and non‑negotiable,” Manhit said. “To dilute it – whether through silence, inaction, especially as the country approaches the 10th anniversary of the 2016 arbitral award – is to erode the legal and moral clarity it firmly established.”

He pointed out that the country was in a “state of active defense” given the realities in the West Philippine Sea, and that its policies “must reflect that fact.”

“Public trust in engagements with China remains low because experience has repeatedly validated caution. The Philippines must not bargain away its sovereign rights for promises that carry neither credibility nor accountability,” Manhit said.