As assistant naval staff for plans (N5) in 1999, I had an opportunity to visit the construction site of the concrete gravity structure (CGS) of the Malampaya gas-to-power project in Subic bay area. The then Captain Constancio Jardiniano, later rear admiral and former N5, personally piloted the navy helicopter that brought us there. In our earlier discussions, we both considered…
The United Nations Charter outlaws the use or threat of force to settle disputes between states. In the West Philippine Sea dispute, an arbitral tribunal created under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), to which China is a party, has already ruled with finality that the Reed Bank is within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)…
Dear Editor, May I share with you my op-ed that appeared in BusinessWorld. It is about building credible deterrence to bring up our country to a state of readiness like all other self-respecting states that zealously protect their people and resources from a world fraught with risks and threats. —Rafael Alunan III The Philippines is like an extremely rich bank…