The country faces not only military aggression in the West Philippine Sea but also a coordinated and sustained offensive in cyberspace, according to the Stratbase Institute.

Stratbase president Victor Andres Manhit warned at a cybersecurity conference on Thursday and Friday that the country is engaged in an “unseen war” fought through information dominance, psychological operations, and digital manipulation.

Organized by the Embassy of Canada, the forum convened senior government officials and diplomats to address hybrid threats linked to geopolitical tensions.

The conflict, Manhit said, is no longer measured by hardware, but by who controls the narrative space, distorts public perception and weakens institutional trust.

He specifically referenced Beijing’s “three warfares” doctrine — comprising psychological, legal and public opinion warfare — as a framework already visible in operations targeting Philippine sovereignty.

Manhit said the Philippines is seeing a coordinated amplification of pro-China narratives and influence operations aimed at fracturing domestic consensus.