A Japanese professor stressed the need to increase trilateral naval patrols between the Philippines, Japan and the United States to counter gray zone tactics threats posed by China.

Ken Jimbo, professor of International Relations, Keio University and managing director of Programs, International House of Japan, noted its importance to further "improve deterrence in the West Philippine sea".

"We also need to increase the trilateral naval patrols with the US to, you know, counter gray zone threats and improve deterrence in the West Philippine Sea. And, you know, the operational tempo and the frequency of the military exercise and the presence operation needs to be maintained," he said.

However, retired Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Rommel Jude Ong, professor of Praxis, Ateneo School of Government claimed that the joint patrols between Philippines and its allied countries are problematic.

"My personal view is that joint patrol is problematic already at its starting state. It's not a patrol if you only do it once every three months, once every two months. It's good for optics, but it doesn't have any button space effect," he said.

Aside from increasing the trilateral naval patrol, Jimbo also emphasized the need to maintain the operational tempo in the South China Sea.

"We need to keep the tempo and then not to open the door, to open the window of the opportunity for China to take the adventurous steps," he said.

"The level of the commitments may be different, and the strengthening of the maritime domain awareness by further enhancing coastal radar system, intelligence sharing pretty much to detect and respond to the maritime incursion and that needs to be effectively operated," he added.

Although the Philippines is the major destination of the Official Security Assistance (OSA) of Japan, Jimbo stated the need to dramatically increase its scale noting the significance of maintaining physical presence in the region.

"My personal take is that we have to dramatically increase the scale of the OSA, not only for this, the equipment itself, but I think that the more important is the infrastructures, especially how you can really connect through those in the security related infrastructure," he said.

Amid uncertainties brought by the recent policies implemented by United States President Donald Trump, Jimbo said that defense of the Philippines and the security of its surrounding areas is a national interest for Japan.

"Japanese commitment to the defense of the Philippines, security of surrounding areas of the Philippines, is a critical, I think, national interest for Japan. So we are committing, in a real sense," he said. Robina Asido/DMS