National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said Tuesday that it is time for the country to push back against China’s aggression in the West Philippine Sea.

“It’s about time that we push back. I think that’s been the constant message of the Philippine government. We’re not out to have problems with other nations. What we’re doing here is we’re simply asserting our rights and we’re simply pushing back. Because for so long we have been at the receiving end of many problems and challenges but we never pushed back,” said at the Stratbase Forum.

“I think the message is clear that the government is serious about its position and it’s working with its traditional allies and partners and that by doing so, we are pursuing the national interest,” he added.

According to Malaya, the publicizing of China’s harassment towards the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) and fishermen in the West Philippine Sea is very “effective” because the incidents have now become a “global concern”.

“The West Philippine and South China Sea are now a global concern. Whenever the Coast Guard releases footage, it’s not limited to the domestic audience. The entire world gets to see and there has been a lot of interest coming from foreign media, coming to the Philippines…reporting on the current situation on the West Philippine Sea,” Malaya said.

“I think we have brought to fore and the world has started to notice. Now they know what happened. Having seen what happened with their own eyes they can make the necessary informed decisions here,” he said.

Malaya said China has suffered reputational damage to media exposure of its activities in Philippine waters.

“I also think that China has suffered some reputational damage. How much? I really do not know. They have suffered some because we have seen an adjustment in the way they reply,” he said.

“Before they would not even release a statement. Now, they would release a statement together with us. It’s the same content, ‘we own the South China Sea’. But we now release those statements at the same time as we do. So they now know that the information war is being fought all over the world. And we are now winning that war. And they are making adjustments so they can get some leverage,” he added. Jaspearl Tan/DMS