Our national security is now compromised. The danger is no longer merely the possibility of invasion, warships on our shores, or missiles falling on our cities. The more insidious danger is conquest without war.
By 2028, China’s billions, combined with what I regard as the Dutertes’ rapacity and political accommodation of Beijing, could reduce this country into something resembling a province, if not a vassal, of China without a single shot being fired.
That is the genius of the new strategy. For the last decade, China has learned that it does not always have to conquer weaker nations with armies. It can overwhelm them with money, technology, infrastructure, access, influence, patronage, and political dependency. A country can retain its flag, its anthem, its Congress, and even its elections, while gradually losing the freedom to make decisions contrary to the wishes of the power holding the purse strings.
That is the real battlefield. “The old empires sent soldiers. The new empire sends money.” That makes Taiwan a thorn in China’s butt. It can match China’s wealth and the much ballyhooed technology.
The struggle is no longer confined to reefs, shoals, coast guard vessels, or competing maritime maps. It is a contest for the independence of Philippine decision-making itself. Once political leaders, economic interests, institutions, and influential personalities become dependent upon Chinese favor, the formal machinery of democracy may continue operating while the substance of sovereignty quietly disappears.
What if Bato, Bantag and Atong Ang are painting the town Red in China or Macao? Or Bato himself steers the China Coast Guard vessels in ramming the puny boats of Bajo de Masinloc?
This is why 2028 matters.
The country needs a reset before accommodation becomes submission and submission becomes irreversible dependence. At this point, an AFP firmly committed to the Constitution and Philippine sovereignty, with men such as Gibo Teodoro and Jay Tarriela standing their ground, and with the assistance of voices such as Antonio Trillanes and Ping Lacson who have long spoken on national-security questions, may represent one of the remaining institutional barriers against the steady erosion of our independence.
The AFP must remain an army of the Republic, not of any political dynasty, faction, foreign patron, or temporary occupant of Malacañang. Its loyalty must be to the Constitution, the Filipino people, and the territorial integrity of the Philippines.
China does not need to fire a shot if Filipinos themselves surrender the country piece by piece.
That is precisely what makes the danger so grave by 2028. Who finances the defense of Duterte at the Hague and Sara at the senate? What the SALNs of the Davao Family do not disclose says it all.
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