After the UN-backed Permanent Arbitration Court in The Hague ruled that China has no historic title to the South China Sea, Indonesia reacted by announcing a boost to its external defenses. Jakarta said it would improve an airstrip, construct new ports, and deploy drones, warships, surface-to-air missiles and a fighter jet to the Natuna Islands, where Indonesian forces have clashed in recent months with Chinese coast guard personnel escorting Chinese fishermen.
The Natunas lie outside the “nine-dash-line” maritime territory claimed by China, which the arbitral tribunal ruled has “no legal basis.” The Indonesians previously said they had no dispute with China, but they have built up their capability to defend their territorial waters and 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone. As China rapidly constructed artificial islands in disputed waters, however, its fishermen, always escorted by armed state personnel, ventured even beyond the nine-dash-line, all the way to Indonesian waters.
The Philippines does not have Indonesia’s external defense capability, having neglected to build up defense self-reliance while under the US security umbrella. With too many other current funding priorities, the Philippines cannot hope to match the military capability of most of its neighbors.
But the Philippines can invest in beefing up its civilian maritime patrol capability. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, which is under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the Philippine Coast Guard under the Department of Transportation need more vessels, trained personnel and resources such as drones to effectively patrol Philippine waters.
The country has one of the most extensive coastlines in the world. If we want to uphold our sovereign rights, now affirmed by a UN-backed tribunal, over all our 7,100 islands, we should have the capability to do so, in both high tide and low. Civilian agencies are best suited for this task, which also involves protecting the marine environment and threatened species.
China denies it is militarizing the South China Sea by pointing out that it deploys only civilian vessels and personnel to the disputed area. Never mind if those civilian patrols are as heavily armed as the People’s Liberation Army. But it’s a sound tack that the Philippines can follow.
The absence of military personnel can help lower the tension in case of sea confrontations. In this period after the historic ruling of the arbitral court, diffusing tension in the South China Sea should be an overriding concern even as the Philippines works to achieve minimum credible defense capability.