A Philippine Navy official said the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept is crucial to allowing the country to defend its sea lanes of communication and all of its maritime territories.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines was tasked to operationalize the new foreign policy after Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. introduced it amid the heightened tension in the West Philippine Sea.

Navy spokesperson for the WPS, Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, said the CADC will allow the Philippines to legally defend its territorial sovereignty and gain access to its northern islands “no matter what China does.”

“That’s why the shift is now towards external defense. We have the CADC, and we would have the capability to protect and to secure Benham Rise (now the Philippine Rise) all around the country,” he said.

On the international level, Trinidad said the Philippines is responsible for protecting its sea lanes of communication “so that the international rules-based order will remain” intact and prevail.

Asked whether the CADC could modify China’s behavior towards WPS, Trinidad said, “As far as the PN and the AFP are concerned, this strategy will allow them to protect the integrity of the national territory, the country’s sovereignty, and the Filipino people.”

Teodoro earlier said the CADC aims to develop the country’s capability to protect its entire territory, including its exclusive economic zone, to ensure that the next generation of Filipinos can enjoy its natural resources.

He added that the CADC will allow the AFP to protect and guarantee “Philippine nationals, Philippine corporations, and those authorized by the Philippine government the unimpeded and peaceful exploration and exploitation of all natural resources within our EEZ and other areas over which we have jurisdiction.”