EDITORIAL - A strong military is worth pursuing

Speaking with World Economic Forum President Børge Brende in Davos, Switzerland, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he is not keen on increasing the country’s military spending because it is not pursuing military solutions to its problems.

“The solutions are not going to be military. If they are going to be military, then they are not solutions because it will end badly if it goes that way, it will end badly for those involved and even those who are not involved,” President Marcos was reported as saying in a Philstar.com report.

The same report interprets the president as saying “there is no point in the Philippines building up its armory.”

If this is what the president really means then we urge him to reconsider.

He seems to assume the military’s role is purely offensive, but it isn’t; it also has a defensive side.

We are still facing threats. The founder of the New People’s Army may have just died, but many of his supporters still continue with their armed struggle in many areas of the country. They may even double or even triple their efforts just to make their presence felt and project some form of relevance after this latest development.

There are also still terrorist groups in the restive south. Last time we took them for granted they held an entire city hostage. That took months to resolve and at the cost of over a thousand lives. Even until now Marawi City has not been fully rebuilt and rehabilitated.

Then, at the back of our minds, there is also that slim chance of conflict with our huge superpower neighbor across the sea. Of course we don’t war with it because by all predictions it’s one fight that we will lose and quickly too. However, this also doesn’t mean we should just let them take what’s ours without a fight, or leave our citizens defenseless.

We may not be able to win such a fight, but perhaps we can have enough in the way of arms to discourage one from taking place at all.

Saying that there is no point in the Philippines building up its armory is like ringing dinner bell invitation to those who want to challenge our sovereignty or at least test it to its limits.