For many of us in the Visayas and Mindanao, the tensions in the West Philippine Sea can feel like a distant storm. We hear the news from Scarborough Shoal or Ayungin, see the images of water cannons and confrontations, and often perceive it as a struggle confined to the coastlines of Luzon. But we are mistaken. The storm is closer than we think, and the waters that bind our archipelago also bind our fate. The recent passage of Chinese warships, including a guided-missile cruiser, through the Basilan Strait and Sibutu Passage into the Sulu Sea is a jarring wake-up call. These are not distant waters. These are the sea lanes of our south, the backyard of Mindanao. Their slow, uncoordinated passage was not a simple, innocent transit; it was a deliberate testing of our borders and our resolve. It serves as an alarming signal that what was once a localized dispute is metastasizing into a national sovereignty crisis.

A line in the water: Why the West PH Sea is our fight, too [Editorial]. (2025, July 19-20). DailyGuardian, p. 4.