President Rodrigo Duterte may have “set aside” the international arbitral ruling favoring the country’s claims in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), but the defense establishment is continuing to undertake measures to protect Philippine sovereignty and territorial rights, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said. Speaking at a forum ahead of the State of the Nation Address (Sona) of the President, Esperon said the national security strategy was to push for a peaceful and diplomatic resolution to the WPS dispute in the face of the President’s foreign policy to be “a friend to all, enemy to none.”

Andrade, J. I. (2018, July 19). Esperon explains PH strategy in WPS. Philippine Daily inquirer, p. A9.