Taking On Goliaths
by Ashley May Selen and Benedict Ballaran
In the West Philippine Sea, a towering figure threatens to crush a small man into pieces. The smaller one came in duty and goodwill; Goliath knew no law. Behind a spectacle of China and the United States (U.S.) military standoff in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), the real David emerges 100 miles from the coast. With a breeze of fear ensuing from the troubled waters, a ray of hope remains visible above a shadowing Chinese Coast Guard. The ordinary Filipino people, particularly the undaunted fisherfolk, hold Goliath’s long-awaited downfall. Not the jet ski promises carved on the sand. And not the boy seeking to be in a white man’s cradle.
Facing immediate threats to their livelihood, Filipino fisherfolk cannot afford to lose a day’s catch while waiting for ‘salvation orders’ from Washington or diving into an ocean of promises from our treaty allies.
PLAYING FETCH
A year after he left office, former president Rodrigo Duterte continues to take orders from his Chinese master, President Xi Jin Ping, in his “friendly visit” to Beijing last July 2023. Amid the continued aggression of Chinese forces on our vessels, the Chinese expansionist leader commanded his lapdog to campaign for the continuation of the “friendly” bilateral relations between China and the Philippines. As he would, Duterte heeds the call of his master even when he was the head of state.
His appeasement of the Chinese president bore no mercy with the imminent danger the Philippine Coast Guard and our Filipino fishermen sense in the waters. For Duterte, the Philippines’ historic victory in the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration was a mere piece of paper.
SAME OLD MASTER
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. approached the conflict looking Westward, seeking refuge from the same old master–the U.S. Marcos aims to breathe a second life into the bilateral relation that Duterte precariously sought to revive toward the desperate end of his term. De La Salle University Manila International Studies Professor Dr. Renato De Castro calls this strategy “balancing,” an approach slightly more sophisticated than Duterte’s.
The controversial visit of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris in Palawan, a stone-throw away from the disputed waters, was a clear message for Beijing.
Fuel added to the fire when Marcos Jr. embraced the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the U.S. and the Philippines that granted Washington access to four new bases in Cagayan, Isabela, and Palawan. The newly fortified EDCA serves as a gateway for the imperialist U.S. to assert dominance in the Indo-Pacific region and to put China, the second-highest economy in the world, in a chokehold should it make further advancements in Taiwan and the West Philippine Sea.
EDCA has been deemed as one of the easy justifications of the U.S. for war to boost its weapon industry, but De Castro observes a similar narrative for China.
“China also has an arms industry. Both the U.S. and China have a military-industrial complex. They simply cannot fight their woes with bows and arrows,” De Castro expressed.
Beijing did not take this new pact lightly. After the agreement was penned, China released a stringent statement warning the Philippines of getting dragged into a “geopolitical strife” that they claim would “seriously affect national interests.” China was convinced that the new EDCA was to serve as a fence against their further advancements in the region and also as a way for the U.S. to protect its hegemony. Several lawmakers echo this statement, such as that of the pro-Beijing Cagayan governor, Manuel Mamba, who worries that the Philippines would be dragged into an unwanted war in yet another growing tension between China and Taiwan. Despite calling for backup from the West, President Marcos Jr. claims that the Philippines and China are not in conflict and that the dispute on water will not hamper the economic relations between the two countries.
With the U.S. forces freely roaming its colony to challenge China’s claim on the disputed waters, the Philippines is left sandwiched between two gargantuan forces. Yet again, it is the Filipinos who are at a disadvantage when two powers, both with their own selfish interest, collide.
Unsung Victors
The sheer incompetence of the previous and current administrations in asserting our legal and internationally backed claim in the WPS has grown to be a muddle in the lives of Filipinos, particularly the fisherfolk. Because of the failed actions of the Philippine government, fisherfolk are forced to risk their lives in the disputed waters for a few more kilos of fish.
Such as the case with Mang Arnel, the brave fisherfolk who recently went viral because of his showcase of courage in front of giants. Taking advantage of the standoff between Chinese and Filipino vessels, Mang Arnel attempted to sneak into the resource-rich waters of Scarborough Shoal in hopes of catching a few more fish for the day but was swatted off by a Chinese vessel. As an act of protest, Mang Arnel bravely braced the Chinese Coast Guard and circled the vessels with his own measly banca. He said that the act was only to taunt the Chinese, an act meant to signal that the Filipinos had enough of the bullying and aggression.
Pamalakaya, a local fisherfolk group, said that around 627,000 fishermen have lost their livelihood because of Chinese activities in the West Philippine Sea in the recent decade. With the continued threat of the Chinese expansionist in Philippine waters, how many more bancas must stand up against the bullies before the Philippine government further asserts the international victory in 2016?
WHO DO YOU CALL?
Time and again, we have been consistently plagued with calling on the rescue of other countries, as if no stroke could keep us afloat in the troubled waters. The heightening military capabilities of China and the U.S. have long been overused only for our government to choose an oppressor instead of seeking to liberate its people.
While other countries in Southeast Asia share the same tribulations versus China, international studies expert Dr. Rommel Banlaoi argued it would take a significant amount of time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries to come up with a unified stance and establish a rules-based order in the region. “ASEAN is not a monolithic [organization]; it is diverse… Each country [is] difficult to [unite] because they have differing outlooks. The slow pace in [establishing] a Code of Conduct is just how it is,” Banlaoi cited, adding that the maritime delimitation between Indonesia and the Philippines alone took 25 years. Filipinos do not have that luxury of time.
The West Philippine Sea issue is not merely a power struggle between two great powers vying for global dominance. It is a choice between life and death for our Filipino fisherfolk and millions of Filipinos depending on their livelihood. As such, issues that have only been left to the experts of international relations must be democratized to the public. Students and educators must go beyond academic exchanges and turn toward communities that are bracing for the impacts of the territorial dispute head-on.
Organizing efforts that embody one’s principles and aspirations for a secure and independent Philippine territory can help one connect with people belonging to different sectors. For the Filipino fishermen, Banlaoi highlighted the urgency to exceed a dominantly militaristic view of the WPS issue by crafting policies that would protect Filipino fishermen and help them secure their livelihood in the contested waters. “Their government should arrange a joint fishery management cooperation, or else the area will be subjected to a lot of illegal fishing or unreported activities. Our fishermen are small-scale fisherfolk and must be protected by the government,” Banlaoi said.
Organizing efforts must take on a pragmatic, grassroots-oriented approach to the issues faced by Filipino fishermen. With this, policymakers can be compelled to adopt policies that truly represent the Filipino people, and we can genuinely elevate our victory.
