Making the unseen visible
For a maritime watchdog whose work revolves around observing activities often taking place far from public view, watching is only part of the job. Making those activities visible, Powell believes, can be just as important.
The Philippines has increasingly relied on transparency by releasing photographs, videos and information about confrontations in the West Philippine Sea. Powell acknowledged that exposing such encounters has not visibly stopped Beijing from continuing its activities.
But deterrence, he argued, is not the only measure of whether transparency works.
“Although China has not been deterred by the use of transparency, at least that we can see, what has happened is the Philippine public has rallied behind the government and has begun to take steps basically to build national resilience,” Powell highlighted.
For him, images reaching television screens and mobile phones turn distant maritime encounters into something Filipinos can see for themselves. That visibility, he said, helps the public understand why the country is investing in its Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force.
Powell also believes it has helped the Philippines draw support from international partners, which have provided ships, radars, detection capabilities and other forms of assistance.
Lesson from his father
Long before Powell began watching vessels move through Philippine waters, his own family had experienced how bringing something into public view could become part of a much larger struggle.
His father, Powell recalled, was a Freedom Rider during the civil rights movement in the United States. As a white man, he boarded public transportation and sat in a section designated for Black passengers, while his Black companions moved into the whites-only section.
The act eventually landed his father in jail.
“My father went to jail. And by making a public spectacle and making everybody pay attention to the injustice, eventually the injustice ended,” Powell recalled.
The experience became part of Powell’s explanation of how he views resistance: Not necessarily as a struggle decided quickly by the stronger side, but one sustained through endurance and an ability to keep public attention fixed on what is happening.
“It was not an easy struggle. It was not a fast struggle, but it was a successful struggle,” he said.
This story of his offers a glimpse into the way he talks about transparency, resistance and the importance of keeping actions that might otherwise go unnoticed in public view.
That same philosophy shapes how Powell views the Philippines’ predicament in the West Philippine Sea.
With China holding an overwhelming advantage in the number and size of vessels it can deploy, the maritime expert sees little prospect of the maritime dispute in the foreseeable future.
Instead, he believes the Philippines must prepare itself for a prolonged conflict.
“When I talk about struggle, I think in terms of a resistance. How does a resistance succeed against an oppressor? It succeeds by outlasting it,” Powell said.
For him, outlasting does not mean simply waiting. It means developing the ability to withstand pressure while ensuring the Philippines does not face the challenge alone.
“This is the time to build capacity, to build resilience, to build alliances and friendships so that you can resist over a long period of time,” he added.
Powell also rejects the idea that the present situation is necessarily permanent. Countries gain and lose power, governments change and policies that once appeared immovable can eventually shift.
“The truth is that nothing is ever forever, right? So countries rise and fall. Countries wax and wane,” he stated.
For Powell, whose work centers on movements that can disappear from view as quickly as they emerge, his message to the Philippines is fittingly simple: Keep watching, keep showing, and be prepared to endure.
