Despite mounting pressure from China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea, the Philippines is on the right track in defending its sovereignty and sovereign rights, top Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officials said Friday.

In a forum commemorating the ninth anniversary of the Philippines' 2016 arbitral victory under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, AFP officials cited modernization and strategic alignment as signs of progress.

“I think the Philippines, especially the Armed Forces of the Philippines, is on the right track through its modernization program,” said Maj. Gen. Fabian Pedregosa of the Philippine Air Force. “Investments are coming in in terms of acquiring capabilities, especially on integrated air and missile defense and maritime security as well," he said.

Pedregosa added the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has expanded its role through multiple multinational exercises.

“The level of exercise is getting better and deeper. As we speak, Cope Thunder 2025-2 is ongoing. And we're doing an exercise with an F-35 aircraft, of course, from the United States,” he said.

Philippine Navy spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea, Roy Vincent Trinidad, pointed out that the current administration has clearly defined the AFP’s maritime strategy.

“We have been through administrations where we had no pronounced or deliberate policy and no AFP strategy,” he said. “With the current administration, the policy is very clear. The strategy is very clear. We are on the right path.”

Three-pronged defense

AFP spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Taborlupa, for her part, said the military is implementing a comprehensive defense framework using diplomatic, informational, military and economic tools. The strategy is being operationalized under the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Operations.

“We are looking at contemporary modern challenges,” she said. “We are going to be modernizing heavily on maritime assets, aerial assets, and cyber capabilities as a whole," she explained.

The second component, she said, is strengthening alliances with like-minded nations. She noted that the recent Balikatan exercises were among the largest ever.

The third component focuses on internal strengthening, including expanding AFP recruitment and building up the reserve force.

“I think we are on the right track on this and we're moving forward,” she said.

Third SEA option

PCG spokesperson Commodore Jay Tarriela said the Philippines is showing its neighbors a new path in responding to China’s maritime incursions.

He said Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia have long faced only two options: ignore or respond.

“We believe that, if there are incursions within our own exclusive economic zone, most Asian countries... think that ignoring such violation of the People's Republic of China would just be okay,” he said. Responding, he noted, could harm trade ties.

“But under this administration... we are now giving the Southeast Asian countries a third option, and that is to expose,” Tarriela said. “It is not just a binary option of ignoring or responding.”

He said countries now see that exposing violations can rally support from like-minded states.

“We can already see big steps from Vietnam and even Malaysia and Indonesia trying to adopt the transparency initiative that we have right now,” he added.

On 12 July 2016, the Philippines won a landmark case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated China’s sweeping nine-dash line claim and ruled that its activities in the West Philippine Sea violated Philippine sovereign rights and damaged the marine environment.