By Rommel C. Banlaoi 13-09-2024

Because of unresolved territorial disputes and maritime jurisdictional conflicts in the South China Sea (SCS), the Asia Pacific region continues to confront persistent security uncertainties against the backdrop of other conflicts in the Taiwan Straits, the Korean Peninsula, and the East China Sea among others.  Worsening major power rivalry between China and the United States confound the SCS problem, which inevitably puts the Philippines in a delicate role as either an enabler of conflict or an instrument of peace in the Asia Pacific.

The Philippines under the leadership of President Ferdinand “Bong Bong” Marcos Jr. has regrettably become an enabler of conflict by allowing the US, a long-time security ally, closer access to Philippine territories by setting up various American military facilities in Philippine bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). 

The Philippines during the administration of the late President Benigno Simeon Aquino III E initially offered five EDCA locations in 2014 in order to implement the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) and supplement the 1999 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA). But former President Rodrigo R. Duterte did not implement EDCA and even suspended the VFA because he pursued a China-friendly Philippine foreign policy.  But the current Philippine administration led by Marcos Jr has pursued an excessive pro-Americanism in foreign policy by expanding the implementation of EDCA  and even offering in 2023 four additional locations for the construction of US military facilities in Philippine bases.  These additional locations have become very controversial as they are suspiciously situated near major flashpoints of conflicts in the Asia Pacific, specifically  those locations facing the Taiwan Strait and the SCS.  

Public justification for the expansion of EDCA was for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) considering that the Philippines has been a disaster-prone country facing an average of 20 typhoons a year and suffering some major earthquakes frequently being located in the Pacific ring of fire.  But during major devastating typhoons that hit the Philippines recently this year, EDCA was never used, so far, for HADR causing public reaction that EDCA was intended for something more sinister.

Despite repeated denials, it is becoming clearer that the major purpose of EDCA is to primarily serve US intention to counter China’s growing influence in the Asia Pacific.  Apparently, EDCA is part of the US grand strategy to mobilize its key Asian allies namely the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and Australia in order to surround China with likeminded states for strategic containment purposes. 

Aside from EDCA, the US has also formed the QUAD with Australia, India and Japan  as well as AUKUS with Australia and the United Kingdom.  These security-oriented and military-driven American-led minilateralism prepares the US for a possible violent conflict with China, especially in the Taiwan Strait.  This current situation aggravates regional security anxieties and exacerbates the security dilemma of states in the Asia Pacific.  With EDCA, the Philippines has become an enabler and even a willing victim of regional military conflicts.

The Philippines, however, can become a vital instrument of peace if it stays decisively neutral in the growing US-China major power rivalry.  Instead of EDCA, the Philippines can promote peace by reaffirming the principle of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) declaring the region as a Zone of Peace, Freedom and Neutrality (ZOPFAN) and the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (SEANWFZ).  

Despite an American ally, the Philippines can still promote friendly relations with China by pursuing a genuine independent foreign policy as mandated by the 1987 Philippine Constitution.   The Philippines can learn lessons from Thailand, which is successfully pursuing an independent foreign policy by cultivating closer friendship with China while sustaining military alliance with the US. In concert with other ASEAN members, the Philippines can be friends to all major powers  by pursuing  the ASEAN principle of amity and cooperation in Southeast Asia, which is consistent with China’s important five principles of peaceful coexistence upholding mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity of states, mutual non-aggression, non-interference in international affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

In other words, the Philippines can be an instrument of peace in the Asia Pacific by implementing the ASEAN Way of conflict avoidance and pacific settlement of disputes through cooperation, dialogues and consultations rather than competition deterrence and confrontation.  The ASEAN Way provides the Philippines the rightful option to peacefully settle territorial disputes and maritime jurisdictional conflicts with China and other parties in the SCS. 

The American Way of insulting and demonizing China can only bring the Philippines to the brink of war not of its own choosing.  But the ASEAN Way can lead the Philippines to the path of peace, friendship and cooperation with China and its neighbors in the Asia Pacific region.

Thus, it is essential for the Philippines to reaffirm ASEAN Centrality in dealing with China and in the peaceful settlement of disputes in the SCS.   ASEAN Centrality recognizes that ASEAN not the US is the chief architect of peace and security in Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region.  The ASEAN Outlook in the Indo-Pacific (AOIP) strongly asserts the centrality of ASEAN in determining the current and future security architecture of the Asia Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

ASEAN Centrality is also essential in the peaceful settlement of disputes in the SCS.   ASEAN Centrality means the adoption of the ASEAN Way in managing disputes in the SCS. The ASEAN Way has led to the adoption in 2002 of China-ASEAN Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the SCS.  The ASEAN Way is important for the DOC implementation and in the conclusion of the ongoing China-ASEAN negotiation on the Code of Conduct (COC) in the SCS. 

Peaceful settlement of disputes in the SCS through the ASEAN Way is one of the cornerstones of peaceful and stable regional architecture in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

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Rommel C. Banlaoi

Rommel C. Banlaoi, PhD is the Chairman of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research (PIPVTR), President of the Philippine Society for International Security Studies (PSISS) and Convenor of the Network for the Prevention of Violent Extremism in the Philippines (NPVEP). He is the President of Philippines-China Friendship Society and a member of the Board of Directors of the China-Southeast Asia Research Center on the South China Sea (CSARC). He has served as the President of the Philippine Association for Chinese Studies (PACS) and member of the Management Board of the World Association for Chinese Studies (WACS).