Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was said to have breezed through his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments. Unfortunately for Cayetano, that breezing through is not bound to last. On Wednesday came reports that China had installed rocket launchers in Fiery Cross Reef—locally known as Kagitingan Reef—within Spratly Islands. There have been recent military installations on Kagitingan even as it merely existed underwater several years before. There is an air strip, an advanced radar system and a missile defense system—and now the rocket launchers.

Breezing through. (2017, May 18). Manila Standard, p. A4.