An inter­na­tional law expert cau­tioned that the gov­ern­ment’s plan to equip Filipino fish­er­men with com­mu­nic­a­tion devices for West Phil­ip­pine Sea mon­it­or­ing risks echo­ing the mari­time mili­tia mod­els of China and Viet­nam, poten­tially draw­ing the Phil­ip­pines into com­plex legal and oper­a­tional dilem­mas it is unpre­pared to handle. React­ing to Pres­id­en­tial Assist­ant for Mari­time Con­cerns Sec­ret­ary Andres Centino’s announce­ment at a Strat­base forum that the gov­ern­ment was pre­par­ing to dis­trib­ute com­mu­nic­a­tion gad­gets to coastal com­munit­ies, inter­na­tional law scholar Melissa Loja said the approach resembled regional prac­tices but lacked crit­ical safe­guards, resources and clar­ity.

Baroña, F. J. C. (2025, December 4). Caution urged in tapping fishermen for monitoring. The Manila Times, p. A2.