The nation will find a resolution of the Recto (Reed) Bank incident faster if it drops much of the posturing and humbug that some of our countrymen are spewing nonstop, and focus its attention instead on national and strategic interest. The high-minded badgering of president Duterte is particularly distracting. First, Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio hurtled from his niche in the Supreme Court to disclose his inside information that a Chinese militia vessel rammed a Filipino fishing vessel at the Recto Bank. He mused gravely that the incident could be the start of a more aggressive campaign by Beijing to drive away Filipino fishermen in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), waters within the country’s 370-kilometer exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Drop the humbug, focus on national and strategic interest. (2019, June 24). The Manila Times, p. A9.