DND: PH ‘balancing’ WPS sovereignty ops to ease tensions with China

DND Secretary Gilberto C. Teodoro Jr. (Photo: Department of National Defense – Philippines/Facebook)

MANILA – The Philippines would continue with its operations to uphold sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in a “balanced” manner in anticipation of increasing harassment from China, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Friday.

“Binabalanse po natin ang ating mga ‘sovereignty operations’ sa posibilidad na magkaroon pa ng mas malaking insidente na ayaw nating mangyari, kaya ito ay kinakalkula naming mabuti, pero ang maliwanag hindi po tayo pwedeng umatras dyan sa karagatan natin (We are balancing our ‘sovereignty operations’ on the possibility that there will be bigger untoward incidents which we don’t want to happen, this is why we are calculating our operations very carefully. But one thing is clear, we cannot just withdraw or retreat from that body of water),” Teodoro said in a radio interview, when asked if he sees a further escalation of tensions in the WPS.

Teodoro added that any activity in the WPS, including the next resupply missions, would be crafted carefully to avoid increasing tensions or conflict and stressed that these would be done to uphold the best interest of the country.

Teodoro said these efforts will not be done “recklessly” to prevent any conflict.

He also added that DND’s stance on the WPS remains the same, which is to stand by the country’s sovereignty as ordered by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

“Hindi po nagbabago ang kanyang guidance, we will be resolute, tayo po ay maninindigan sa ating soberenya (the President’s guidance did not change, we will be resolute, we will stand-by our sovereignty),” Teodoro said.

By asserting Manila’s sovereign rights and territorial jurisdictions in the WPS, the DND chief added that the government was not doing anything that would violate its Constitution.

In fact, the Constitution calls for the protection of all Philippine territory, he added.

“Wala po tayong opsyon kung hindi pangalagaan ito ang future generations po at ang ating seguridad, integridad bilang isang archipelagic state ang nakasalalay po dito (We have no option but to protect this for the future generations and our security. Our integrity as a archipelagic state depends on this),” the DND chief stressed.