MANILA, Philippines – SINABI ng Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) na dapat na isinasaisip na ng bansa na ito’y nasa “political war” sa gitna ng nagpapatuloy na girian kasama ang Tsina sa West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Ito ang sinabi ni AFP chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner, sa pamamagitan ng kanyang acting Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Arvin Lagamon sa isang forum na inorganisa ng Stratbase Institute and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on AFP modernization.
“We are already at war. Not yet a kinetic war, but the political war, the economic war, and more importantly, the cyber and informational war are already going on,” ayon kay Lagamon sa forum, tinukoy ang kalatas ng Stratbase na ipinalabas, araw ng Lunes.
Tinuran pa ni Lagamon na patuloy na hinaharap ng bansa ang “daily illegal, coercive, aggressive, deceptive, destructive, and bullying” activities ng Tsina sa WPS.
Winika pa nito na nananatiling sinasalag ng Pilipinas ang “use of sharp power through their United Front Works and their malign information and foreign influence,” ng Tsina lalo na sa pagbasura ng foreign country sa 2016 arbitral ruling na pabor sa Pilipinas.
Samantala, sinabi naman ni WPS Spokesperson Rear Admiral Roy Trinidad na sa gitna ng WPS dispute, “the modern battlefield is the mindset of the Filipino people.”
“We need to protect the cognitive domain of the Filipino people,” ang tinuran ni Trinidad.
“Filtering, sifting through the information being put out is critical to the perception of the Filipino people…For all we know, we might be electing somebody by 2028 because of the manipulation of the perception of the public,” aniya pa rin.
Sinabi rin naman ni Stratbase President Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit na “every day, efforts to undermine and discredit the ruling persist.”
“We need to transition from asserting our rights to defending our rights,” anito pa rin. KRIS JOSE
