Who might be the forces of division feeding the partisan sentiment among the country’s key figures amid the heightened maritime friction?

The usual suspect is China, for good reasons, since it is the party that is most threatened amid the international polarization against it following the skirmishes in the West Philippine Sea.

China has relied on the so-called gray zone warfare to fend off Philippine actions in the disputed areas, which is calculated not to draw the United States into an open conflict.

Lately, the incumbent President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos and his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte have traded barbs over the handling of China, which now seems to overshadow the outrage generated by the recent aggression in Ayungin Shoal.

Duterte, interviewed by Chinese media, raised the possibility that the hostility is being stoked by forces other than Beijing.

The former President, who is candid to a fault, is finding it difficult to pinpoint who is fanning the flames of disunity related to Chinese media.

“It is very hard to comprehend the Philippines detaching a little bit and remaining neutral. That cannot happen until the end of the current term. We’ll just have to wait it out,” he said.

Duterte indicated that “we have bilateral relations with America, but if your foreign policy is crooked or favors one country and is sometimes hostile because you are with America, then everything is wrong. That is the problem.”

A political camp that always moves in parallel with the Americans are the domestic liberal democrats, who make up mostly the yellow mob, which the mainstream party is now repudiating because of the stigma it bears.

“There is a quarrel because the US tells everybody, ‘Okay, you fight. Do not be afraid because we are here.’ It’s antagonistic and hostile,” he added.

Thus, Duterte introduces another perspective regarding the heightened friction, which is to prevent the previous affinity with China.

Duterte insisted that the proper perspective is to stay neutral while “not entertaining invasive activities.”

“I dream of China and the Philippines working together, of better people-to-people exchanges. Most Filipinos are pro-American because of the educational system, but I dream of Filipinos also gaining new views,” Duterte pointed out.

The recent exchange of allegations regarding the so-called Gentleman’s Agreement between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping was blown out of proportion.

From the start of his administration, Duterte adopted a so-called independent foreign policy that sought to balance relations and lessen dependence on the United States.

The issue has been portrayed as a secret deal between Duterte and Xi when the former president’s method of engaging China had nothing to hide.

Then, the intrigue of selling sovereignty was introduced by groups that had been proven in the past to act at the behest of the Americans.

The beef was that Duterte gave in to the demand that no materials be brought to the Ayungin Shoal to rehabilitate the rusting BRP Sierra Madre, which serves as the country’s outpost in the contested area.

Nothing of such sort happened in the talks with Xi, according to Duterte.

The unsettling West Philippine Sea affair proves the point that, indeed, powerful forces are at work to pull the Philippines to their side, and things are not always what they seem.