Should We Give Up Scarborough

“We cannot stop China from doing its thing. Even the Americans were not able to stop them.”; that is the official statement of President Rodrigo Duterte after the news of China`s announcement of its plan to build an environmental monitoring station in the Scarborough Shoal came out. Duterte further avowed that declaring war against China is not advisable during these days.

The said statement provokes panic among security establishments and intelligentsia. It also yields different reaction from the public. Some even says that the president is impeachable for that statement.

On confronting the probability of losing the Scarborough Shoal, which is a part of the national territory as per Republic Act No. 9522, I share the same outlook with the president. In fact, it is a wise disposition on the matter. We cannot be aggressive on asserting our rights. We cannot go to war for a shoal.

I agree that the President is impeachable for releasing such kind statement to the international media, that sounds like waiving the right of the Filipinos for the said shoal, but for me our President only have a great sense of reality that leads him to that conclusion. Being aggressive towards  China`s act in the West Philippine Sea, specifically in the  Scarborough, i.e going to war, will only bring  loses to our nation. Why would we go to war against China?  When in fact, what the Chinese’s want is just to build a facility to provide the international public good for the region, supposedly helping the fishermen, secure the sea line from pirates, offer a better way of communication among ships passing the waters, and of course to look-over, with keen eyes, the marine resources present in that region.

May be we would lose Scarborough Shoal (but not our sovereignty after a war) for good. The answer is yes. That may sound not so nationalistic, but I cannot imagine the future of the country after a war, for a very small part of the sea, with 99% probability of losing. It is better to give up the shoal than end up being a destroyed nation.