The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Tracy Cabrera
Civic groups have for the longest time lambasted China’s incursion ito our seas, stressing that there are moments when a nation must speak plainly and so in this occasion, it is only proper that Filipinos verbalize what is truth and reality.
In a statement, civic leader Dr. Jose Antonio Goitia, chairman emeritus of the Alyansa ng Bantay sa Kapayapaan at Demokrasya (ABKD), People’s Alliance for Democracy and Reforms (PADER), Liga Independencia Pilipinas (LIPI), and the Filipinos Do Not Yield Movement (FDNY), cited that “recent attacks on (our country’s) legal position, especially those aimed at the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), demand an unequivocal response.”
In a media interview, Dr. Goitia strongly pointed out that “when institutions tasked with defending the Republic are undermined, neutrality ceases to be prudence. It becomes surrender.”
Accordingly, he tagged that such attacks weaken our country, precisely when resolve is required to defend sovereignty under international law.
“Those who argued for retreat never thought of themselves as traitors. They wrapped surrender in the language of pragmatism, only for history to expose the cost,” Goitia observed.
But today, he quickly remarked, the pattern repeats and rights are portrayed as negotiable while clarity is replaced by doubt and retreat is sold as wisdom.
“This is collaboration by another name and it succeeds only when Filipinos are persuaded to doubt themselves. What is presented as debate is, in truth, disinformation intended to hollow out the Republic from within,” he spelled out as he asserted that on the law, there is no uncertainty.
He stressed: “The Philippines’ rights are firmly anchored in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and reinforced by the 2016 arbitral ruling that categorically rejected China’s sweeping maritime claims. Even entertaining the idea of abandoning Philippine-held territory undermines the Republic’s legal defenses and strengthens those who seek to dispossess it.
“This is how nations lose territory without firing a shot. They surrender the argument before it is even heard.”
Moreover, our country does not require separate coordinates to establish its Exclusive Economic Zone. Under UNCLOS, maritime zones arise by operation of law from archipelagic baselines. China’s so-called nine-dash line, by contrast, has no legal basis, no recognized coordinates, and no standing under international law. Treating it as credible is not error. It is an inversion of truth.
And yet, we realize that accountability begins at home. The remarks of Senator Rodante Marcoleta, Senator Robin Padilla, and several media figures do active harm to the Republic. By questioning settled maritime rights and amplifying narratives crafted by a foreign power, they compromise the country’s legal position at a time when firmness is required.
“Sovereignty is not rhetorical,” Goitia affirmed. “It is constitutional, legal and binding. To cast doubt on it is to endanger (our) Republic’s defenses.”
In ending, Goitia insisted that we are a nation that knows its worth.
“Filipinos are not naïve. What is dangerous is the attempt to dress surrender as realism and retreat as wisdom. Every colonizer begins by telling a people they are too small to resist. That lie collapses every time Filipinos choose courage over fear.
“Defending Philippine sovereignty is not hostility toward others. It is fidelity to ourselves. This us why no inch (must be) surrendered. No sovereignty negotiated. The Republic stands (firm),” he concluded.