Mga bagong istratehiya laban sa marahas na pag-atake sa West PH Sea pinuri ng defense scholars

ANG pagpapatupad ng mga bagong national defense strategies ay susuporta sa agenda ni Presidente Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. upang matiyak na ang exclusive economic zone (EEZ) ng Pilipinas ay hindi “magpakailanman mawawala sa marahas na pag-atake” ng mga foreign invader.

Ginawa ng alumni officials ng National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP) ang pahayag makaraang ianunsiyo ni Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. na magpapatupad ang Pilipinas ng Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept (CADC) upang mapangalagaan ang mga katubigan ng bansa.

Ayon kay Aldin Cuña, Secretary General ng NDCP Alumni Association, mahalagang pondohan ang bagong defense strategies upang maprotektahan ang EEZ “kapag ang nakataya ay mataas,” at binigyang-diin na ang naturang pagpopondo ay may magandang ibubunga sa food at energy security.

“Thus, the CADC is about guarding the riches future generations should enjoy, bounties we should not lose during our watch, part of national patrimony we should develop to improve the lives of our people,” ayon kay Cuña.

“CADC is one patch, but a major one, in our larger national security fabric,” dagdag ng NDCP alumni official. “We believe despite limited resources, there is fiscal space that can finance urgent acquisitions.”

Idinagdag ni Commodore Jerry Simon, miyembro ng alumni board, na “CADC strengthens other components in the material, like diplomacy and alliances, which must be reinforced as well because it is the multiplicity of complementing initiatives that our rights are defended and national interest is upheld.”

“It is because of CADC’s great value to national interest that we are fully supporting it, as we urge all our members, in whatever capacity they can help, to rally other stakeholders to extend the same,” sabi pa ni Simon.

“But we are aware that operationalize CADC, investments should be made in boosting our capabilities, for that is how a plan becomes a success, if spent on, and not merely spoken of,” aniya.

Sinabi naman ni Professor Vladimir Mata, isa pang miyembo ng NDCP alumni board, na “when threats evolve, so must responses, for one cannot apply the strategies of the old to challenges which are new.”

Pinuri ni Mata ang CADC bilang “big picture that underlines our narrative, and hopefully, the best response to the many volatilities we are confronting.”

“In enhancing our national security, plans and programs must be updated too, because modernization does not apply to armaments alone, but to approaches as well,” pahayag pa ni Mata hinggil sa bagong defense concept.

“This is the great importance of the DND’s Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept, which amidst a seascape change in our security situation, prescribes common courses of action. The CADC embodies the unity of thinking that should guide as forward so that actions, isolated they may seem, actually serve the greater purpose,” dagdag pa niya.

Sa pagpapatupad ng CADC, sinabi ni Secretary Teodoro na “nililinang ng Department of National Defense (DND) at Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ang ating kakayahan na protektahan at pangalagaan ang ating buong teritoryo at EEZ.”

Binigyang-diin ng Defense Secretary na “titiyakin nito na malayang aanihin at tatamasahin ng sambayanang Pilipino at ng mga susunod na henerasyon ang mga biyaya ng natural resources na tunay nating pag-aari.”

“I emphasize that this is a strategic action and will not need constant directives to carry out. I, thus, urge our commanders and units in the AFP to exert all efforts to operationalize the CADC,” sabi pa ni Secretary Teodoro.