By Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio, Reporter
NATIONAL SECURITY should be a key campaign issue in this year’s midterm elections amid worsening tensions with China, according to political analysts.
Candidates should present to Filipino voters their stance on and plans to address security concerns, including proposals to modernize the armed forces, they added.
“(National security) should always take a front seat because our national security affects our own economic security,” Victor Andres C. Manhit, president at think-tank Stratbase ADR Institute, said in an interview.
A January Social Weather Stations poll showed that eight of 10 Filipinos would vote for candidates who advocate defending the country’s exclusive economic zone from Chinese incursions.
“If we ask 1.4 billion Chinese, 10 out 10 will agree to defend our sovereignty and interests in the South China Sea,” the Chinese Embassy in Manila said in a Viber message.
China and the Philippines have been at loggerheads over disputed features in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety. A United Nations-backed tribunal based in The Hague in 2016 voided China’s claim for being illegal.
President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. seeks to harness the country’s marine life-rich waters under a proposed Blue Economy Act, which will develop and manage the nation’s coastal resources.
The South China Sea is teeming with marine life, and the Philippines is located within the so-called coral triangle, where 76% of all known coral species in the world can be found, according to the Asian Development Bank.
“Senatorial and congressional aspirants must keep on supporting military modernization efforts and a self-reliant defense posture,” said Chester B. Cabalza, founding president at Manila-based International Development and Security Cooperation.
“Politicians hold a high-profile influence on how Filipinos view the need to fight for our waters,” he said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
Political candidates should also bare how they plan to sustain the government’s defense acquisitions amid funding shortfalls, said Joshua Bernard B. Espeña, an international relations lecturer at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
“Should Manila want submarines, land-based missile batteries, or even new multi-role fighters, then it requires a lot of [funding] commitment,” he said via Messenger chat.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Romeo S. Brawner, Jr. last week said government funding for their modernization efforts remains lacking, prompting them to seek financing from local and foreign lenders.
The AFP’s modernization program will get P35 billion this year, P15 billion lower than what was originally proposed by the Executive during budget deliberations last year.
“There ought to be a review as regards to the funneling of foreign loans, especially if these interests might mortgage the country’s coffers without any responsible flow of payment in the long-term,” Mr. Espeña said.
Candidates running for the Senate and House of Representatives who win in the midterm elections should review laws and policies governing big-ticket AFP acquisitions to check their effectiveness and ensure they are corruption-free, he added.
Political analysts noted that election campaign narratives have overlooked national security concerns.
“Traditional politicians gravitate toward security and welfare, while the more progressive ones are tied with social justice and economic redistribution,” Anthony Lawrence A. Borja, an associate political science professor at De La Salle University in Manila, said in a Facebook Messenger chat.
“Other than drawing a line between the Marcos and Duterte camps, I can see nothing fundamentally new among the dominant platforms,” he added.
The House this month impeached Vice-President Sara Duterte-Carpio, the latest peak in an escalating political feud between the Marcoses and the Dutertes, two of the country’s most influential clans.
Filipinos will pick a new set of congressmen and thousands of local officials on May 12, but the key contest will be for 12 spots in the influential 24-seat Senate, which would try the estranged vice-president as an impeachment court. The Senate race is headlined by allies of Mr. Marcos and Ms. Duterte.
Voters are mainly concerned with their “economic well-being and survival,” with national security concerns taking a backseat, said Mr. Borja. “It is still, for many, a question of wages, budget and household expenses.”
“Can they excuse a vague or diluted stance on the issue of China? Probably yes, if the candidate can appeal to these basic needs,” he added.
Filipinos are unlikely to vote based on international issues unless these affect the economy, Hansley A. Juliano, who teaches political science at the Ateneo de Manila University, said via Messenger chat. “I don’t think geopolitical issues continue to inform electoral choices, at least not unless they have a direct impact on inflation and our economic situation.”
