AFP chief: New defense concept fortifies PH's watch of EEZ, WPS

MANILA – The Philippines' Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) has stepped up its ability to protect its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and territories beyond this, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said Tuesday.

"Nakita natin yun importansya ng ating EEZ, (pati) na rin po yun mga features natin katulad ng Pagasa Island ay nasa labas ng exclusive economic zone. But still, we consider that a territory of the Philippines, meron na nga po tayong komunidad sa Pagasa Island. Meron siyang sariling mayor, at so, kailangan po natin depensahan natin ito (We saw the importance of our EEZ and our features (in the WPS) like Pagasa Island which is outside our EEZ. But still, we consider that as a territory of the Philippines, we have a community in Pagasa Island and it has an elected mayor, so we need to defend that)," Brawner said at the Pre-SONA (State of the Nation Address) Special "Resibo ng Serbisyo ng Pangulo" over state-run PTV.

In the past, Brawner said the Philippines' defense concept was merely based on its baseline, which means that the AFP will have to wait for a potential enemy to come before mounting operations against this threat.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said CADC will allow the Philippines to address its ongoing maritime security challenges and would enable the AFP to address contemporary threats to Philippine territorial integrity and sovereign rights.

He said the CADC is a convergence of various strategies to give a more holistic approach to dealing with critical socio-economic factors like food security, energy sustainability, and environmental resilience.

Brawner, meanwhile, said the AFP's patrols in the WPS would continue to ensure that the Filipino fisherfolk would be able to go about with their normal activities.

Survey operations will also continue to check and determine the status of resources in the WPS, he said.

"Marami pa tayong ginagawang operations na di pwedeng sabihin dito. But of course, tuloy-tuloy po ang gagawin maritime and air patrols (We are doing a lot of operations that we cannot give details due to security reasons. But of course, our maritime and air patrols will continue)," he said.

He said the military has also stepped up its monitoring of activities within the country's territorial waters.

He also said the AFP continues to strengthen ties with allied nations through the holding of multilateral maritime cooperative activities (MMCA).

"Sa mga susunod na buwan ay marami pa tayong makikitang (In the next months, we would see more editions of) MMCA. This time, pati mga bansa sa Europa, gustong sumama. Gustong sumama ng France, United Kingdom, Germany, pati na rin dito sa region natin, New Zealand (some countries in Europe also want to join. France, United Kingdom, Germany, and our regional neighbor New Zealand) also wants to join us. Welcome po lahat ng mga bansang ito (All these countries are welcome) to join us in our joint sail activity," Brawner added. (PNA)