Not backing down, ‘Atin ito!’

On April 15, 2026, I attended a press conference for the West Philippine Sea (WPS) “Atin Ito!” Cebu Caravan, hosted by the Filipino Cebuano Business Club. Present were Atin Ito Coalition speakers Rafaela David, Rear Admiral Jay Tarriela, UP economics professor Cielo Magno, and political analyst and former political affairs adviser Ronald Llamas.

I would like to thank former Cebu City councilor Alvin Dizon for the invitation. I had met Sec. Llamas a couple of months ago during another media talk here in Cebu, and I had also been looking forward to meeting the other two speakers, Rear Admiral Tarriela and Professor Cielo, as she is popularly known. They are among the most courageous and compelling voices on the West Philippine Sea issue in our country today.

Joining them was Akbayan president Rafaela David, also co-convenor of the Atin Ito Coalition. Together, they were in Cebu for a two-day campus caravan, holding forums at the University of San Carlos and the University of the Philippines Cebu, as part of a broader effort to make ordinary Filipinos, especially students and young people, understand that the WPS is not an abstract geopolitical issue.

The speakers emphasized the need for campus tours, youth engagement, and cooperation with agencies such as the Philippine Information Agency, Department of Education, and local governments, to prevent the People’s Republic of China’s narrative from distorting what young Filipinos know about the West Philippine Sea.

One of the main points that stayed with me during the press conference was Llamas’ observation that recent surveys show most Filipinos oppose China’s aggressive actions and gaslighting diplomacy concerning the WPS. Yet, as Llamas observed, surveys also indicate that Filipinos would still tend to vote for pro-China candidates if elections were held today. He qualified this, though, by noting that more recent surveys show a downward trend for Vice President Sara Duterte, whose silence on China’s actions in the WPS speaks too loudly to ignore.

Disinformation was mentioned during the press conference as the most probable culprit. That is why I asked the speakers what further actions could be taken to counter disinformation and expose the obvious link between pro-Duterte candidates and their pro-China stance. Among the suggestions was to incorporate the WPS issue into the school curriculum.

Indeed, the WPS issue must be taught not only in schools but also in the streets and to ordinary Filipinos before it is surrendered in public consciousness. Disinformation is seen as a strategic front, because if young Filipinos grow up confused about what belongs to the country, China gains an advantage in its obvious effort to normalize its claims.

The speakers warned against allowing China’s “illegal presence and coercive activities” to become normal. Sea patrols and government efforts are being undertaken to prevent such normalization, while civil society-led coalitions like Atin Ito! mobilize civilians, fisherfolk, youth groups, and other sectors in asserting sovereign rights and territorial sovereignty without reducing the issue to a military confrontation.

The coalition representatives stressed that the WPS dispute is not only about Philippine sovereignty and sovereign rights. They also framed China’s actions as an attack on the rules-based international order, international law, and the principle that maritime claims should not be settled by bullying or force. I think this is a good framing because it broadens the issue by telling our people that this is not simply Manila versus Beijing. It is about whether international law still has meaning in a rules-based order, or whether we simply accept the normalization of “might makes right”.

In light of the ongoing oil crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East, the press conference also tied the WPS issue to energy security. Economics Professor Cielo Magno referred to the potential oil and natural gas resources in the area, underscoring the critical role of the WPS in the country’s pursuit of energy independence.

One journalist asked whether the Philippines’ firm position on the WPS could affect the tourism sector, particularly the Chinese tourist market, as hinted by some Chinese officials, and how the country could still maximize tourism despite the geopolitical tension. Rear Admiral Tarriela stressed that we should push back against the idea that the Philippines should soften its WPS position to avoid losing Chinese tourists, investments, or trade. And Sec. Llamas added that our internal problems like tourism are rooted more in infrastructure, transportation, peace and order, national security, and other structural constraints, rather than simply the Philippines’ geopolitical stance toward China.