Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 23) – Veteran lawmakers running in the 2022 senatorial polls emphasized the need for the country to forge miltary alliances with neighboring Southeast Asian countries and first-world nations to defend its sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
Former Senator JV Ejercito said that while the country must send its most modern military equipment in the disputed waters, they cannot match what China has.
Beijing refuses to honor Manila’s victory in the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling, which nullified the Asian superpower’s expansive claims in the South China Sea.
Ejercito added that military alliances with the country’s Southeast Asian neighbors and nations like the United States, Australia, and Japan are vital in maintaining South China Sea as a zone of peace and free travel… Read More