The Strategic Need for National Security Matters that Every Filipino Should Know By Engr.

Ped Salvador, Ph.D. One very important topic that the Philippine Council of Management (PhilComan) will discuss on its 39th National Management Congress that will be held on November 12, 2013 at Century Park Hotel Manila will be the issues and concerns about the Philippine national security. What is National Security? National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic power, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept was developed mostly in the United States after World War II. Initially focusing on military might, it now encompasses a broad range of facets, all of which impinge on the non military or economic security of the nation and the values espoused by the national society. Accordingly, in order to possess basic national security, a nation needs to possess socio-political security, economic security, energy security, health security, cyber security, environmental security, and food security among others. Security threats involve not only conventional foes such as aggression of other nations but also nonstate actors such as violence, narcotic cartels, multinational corporations and nongovernmental organizations. Some authorities include natural disasters and events causing severe environmental damages. The measures usually taken to ensure national security include:

using diplomacy to rally allies and isolate threats marshalling economic power to facilitate or compel cooperation maintaining effective armed forces implementing civil defense and emergency preparedness measures (including antiterrorism legislation) ensuring the resilience and redundancy of critical infrastructure using intelligence services to detect and defeat or avoid threats and espionage, and to protect classified information using counterintelligence services or secret police to protect the nation from internal threats

Asia Pacific Trends

The Asia-Pacific region continues to demonstrate economic resilience. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that economic growth for Asia as a whole may reach up to 5.75% in 2013 and 6% in 2014. Intraregional trade accounts for 20% of the regions trade with the rest of the world, which helps the region, withstand economic shocks. In sustaining economic growth and promoting regional prosperity, it is a well known fact that the defense sector shares the responsibility of mitigating emerging regional security risks in order to provide an environment conducive to economic development. Strategic Economic Importance The Philippines occupies a strategic location on the edge of Chinas first island chain of defense, an area of Chinas greatest maritime interest and encompassing the vast majority of the South China Sea. The South China Sea is rapidly emerging as a key venue for managing Chinas rise as a global power. China claims that control of this international waterway is essential to its security. Not incidentally, the same defensive line roughly tracks Chinese sovereign territorial claims, including several islands under Philippine administration. The expansive Chinese claims threaten not only the Philippines and the other countries claimants to the territory, but also the ability of the U.S. to conduct naval operations in open seas and, ultimately, the security of the sea-lanes through which much of the worlds trade passes. Note that in March 2009, China vividly illustrated the threat by harassing the USNS Impeccable with a frigate, surveillance aircraft, and five other Chinese-flagged ships, including a Bureau of Maritime Fisheries patrol vessel. The Impeccable was operating in the exclusive economic zone claimed by China, where the U.S. maintains that its rights and freedoms are qualitatively and quantitatively the same as those rights and freedoms applicable on the high seas. Ramon Alcaraz View on our National Security The late Philippine Navy Commodore Ramon Alcaraz in his retirement speech in 1966, during turnover ceremonies on board his flagship RPS Incorruptible, mentioned the following important notes: There are certain aspects of our defense structure that warrant immediate reappraisal. For instance, although the Philippines is basically a maritime nation composed of more than 7,000 islands, its defense strategy places too much emphasis on ground forces. We have a coastline twice that of the United States, but our military planners, always dominated by ground force officers, have failed to appreciate our maritime posture. The indifference of our leaders to recognize the maritime nature of our geography seems to lead to haphazard if not unrealistic planning not only in defense matters but also in our economic development. The key to our economic development as a nation is transportation, primarily water transport since we are composed of more than 7,000 islands. The produce of these islands must be able to reach the market.

There is a compelling need for an immediate reexamination of our defense system. We must understand that if a country is not only surrounded by water but also divided in many parts by the sea, control of that sea is not only desirable but imperative to its national security. No other organization in the AFP can ensure control of the sea except the Navy. The Navy must therefore be given a primary role instead of a supporting one in our national defense setup. Indeed after 47 years, he was right in his assessment about Philippine National Defense to shift focus and use an strengthened Navy to safeguard our national security regarding protection of our maritime economic resources against an upcoming expansive and imperialist China. He died on June 25, 2009. and buried in Fairhaven Memorial Park, Santa Ana, CA, U.S.A. Sources: 1. De Castro,Renato; Lohman,Walter.. Empowering a New Era in the United StatesPhilippine Alliance, The Heritage Foundation.www.heritage .org 2. Farolan, Ramon. Ramon Alcaraz and National Defense, Inquirer Opinion,Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 4, 2013 3. Gazmin, Voltaire. New Trends in Asia-Pacific Security .The IISS Asia Security Summit. June 02,2013 4. Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia