Press Release
Sen. Leila M. de Lima on the AFP and the latest developments in WPS
4/15/21
The recent occupation of Julian Felipe reef by China's naval militia's fake fishing boats has revealed the confusion within the Duterte administration whether to treat it as such or to simply ignore it altogether. The former is the position of the officials that matter when it comes to foreign affairs and national defense, i.e., Sec. Teddyboy Locsin and Delfin Lorenzana. Their apparent strong opposition to the Chinese occupation coincides with five other major incidents transpiring in the region: The entry of the Theodore Roosevelt carrier group into the South China Sea; the second breakout from the first island chain of the Liaoning carrier group from the East China Sea into the Pacific; the increased intrusion of the PLA Air Force into Taiwanese airspace; the declaration of US Secretary of State Blinken reiterating the trigger factors of the US-PH Mutual Defense Treaty; and the start of the annual Balikatan exercises of the AFP with American forces in the Pacific.