In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote:
…the art of using troops is this: When ten to the enemy's one, surround him; When five times his strength, attack him; If double his strength, divide him…
A strategy imbued in the political system of Communist China is what we commonly call "divide and conquer." If it is not still clear to you, the Chinese government has employed numerous strategic and political maneuvers to divide our nation when it comes to the WPS issue. Sadly, with all the blame game and animosity among Filipinos, it appears that their strategy is winning. And if this continues, we will be left with nothing but a lost cause.
We should remind ourselves that the real enemy here is not Duterte or his minions nor is it Carpio or Del Rosario or Trillanes. The real enemy is the Chinese Government who is trying to exploit what is rightfully ours - of course, there are a lot of technicalities about our claim. However, it saddens me when a lot of Filipinos are finding and highlighting faults in our claim instead of finding better justification, instead of earning international support. This is unbecoming of a Filipino. If we truly love our country, we must at all cost protect its sovereign rights, protect its territorial claims including the EEZ.
The president's actions and words are truly sad. He, as the father of our nation, should not shut down even the smallest glimmer of hope that we have when it comes to these territorial claims. Our victory may be a piece of paper but surely it's better than nothing. Of course, other strategies may work but it's just so wrong that he gives vindication and affirmation to China's claim. If there is an amicable way to settle it, we should be the one giving China leeway and not the other way around.
I hope that we Filipinos change the perspective that we must either be an anti or a pro nor should we be neutral. We need to be critical when it comes to bad policies and we must support the good ones. For this fight, I personally believe that raising the white flag is one of the bad moves this current admin has taken.
