For decades, our government has bowed to the impositions of foreign interests, which we have allowed to shape and dictate our policies. These have made us weak and vulnerable. And yet, we declare in our 1987 Constitution that we pursue an independent foreign policy founded on the principles of peace, self-determination and peaceful coexistence. We have been the object of big powers fighting each other to gain control of our geographically strategic land and its natural wealth.

Simbulan, R. G. (2015, June 21). China's challenge to PH sovereignty. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A16.