MANILA, Philippines — The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) slammed the statement of a retired general questioning the real essence of the country’s arbitral win in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) describing it as “misleading, defeatist and alarmist.”
On July 14, Ret. Air Force General Romeo Poquiz posted on Facebook about his position on the strength of the country’s arbitral victory nine years after the award asking the question “What did we really win?”
Poquiz claimed that almost a decade after, the Philippines has become at the center of a powerplay between the US and China, that the win was only on paper and that the country was slowly turning into another Ukraine.
Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, AFP spokesman for the WPS, denied the claims and said the institution expected more from its former members to boost the nation’s morale and not weaken it with such statements.
He said such statements send wrong messages to both the Filipino people and the men and women of the military who served under these retired generals.
For the record, Trinidad stressed that the Philippines was a sovereign state, having its own national interest. “All the actions of the Armed Forces are in furtherance of this national interest. We will not fight for the interest of another country nor will we be dictated by them,” Trinidad said.
“Standing up for our rights does not mean being subservient to the interests of another country,” he said.
Secondly, the arbitral win is anything but just a paper victory.
“We stood up to the Chinese communist party. We stood firm for international law, for freedom of navigation, sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Trinidad said.
Trinidad also denied that the country was turning into another Ukraine and that such claim was misleading.
“We are not preparing the Armed Forces for offense. We are preparing the Armed Forces to defend what is legally and rightfully the Filipinos,” Trinidad said.
