[We recommend that you read the first article in order to understand this article’s context. You may access the article through this link: https://lifenews1.wixsite.com/website/post/power-hungry-putin-why-russia-is-invading-ukraine]
“Wala naman tayong pakialam sa Europe kung ano ang ginagawa nila doon, hindi naman tayo katabi ng Ukraine … Tayo, neutral naman tayo ngayon” (“We aren’t bordering Ukraine, so we aren’t concerned with their affairs … We are neutral as of now.”), Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a recent interview.
For the same reasons, many Filipinos remain uninterested in the Ukrainian-Russian war. However, we’re on a similar boat with Ukraine, along with other vulnerable nations. Like Putin violating Ukraine’s sovereignty—just because he can—China continues to exert its influence over the West Philippine Sea and Taiwan, similarly justifying their intrusion with “historical claims.”
Nevertheless, historical claims are not valid excuses for violating a country’s sovereignty and freedom. Oceans rise and empires fall. Although Ukraine was part of Russia, it has progressed as its own democratic nation for the past three decades. Ukraine is as much an independent country as Russia and the Philippines. If Ukraine had plans to join NATO or the European Union, it had every right to do so without Russian intervention.
Similarly, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have every right to exert their right on their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) of the West Philippine Sea, with the EEZ officialized by the United Nations since 1982. For decades, all these Southeast Asian nations maintained their sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea until China later brought up the historical claim card.
However, internationally agreed-upon borders are no longer respected amidst Russia and China's never-ending pursuit of power.
With China’s economic stronghold and Russia’s nuclear capacity, the world is now cautious of directly countering either nation. As a consequence, Russia has invaded Ukraine outright—leading to a running death toll of over 352 Ukrainians and 5710 Russian troops as well as a million projected refugees. Moreover, the West Philippine Sea’s maritime EEZ borders, despite the Hague Ruling, continually receive the cold shoulder from China.
As such, we are now caught in the crossroads of watching one democracy fall, while having our own sovereignty disrespected by our powerful neighbor up north.
Presidential Aspirant Leody de Guzman voiced out that the Duterte administration should avoid taking sides in the Ukrainian-Russian war while standing as a nation for world peace. Although we should be anti-war, promoting neutrality will foster national complacency, enabling history to repeat itself. For instance, in World War 2, the “not my problem” mentality enabled the Nazis to invade Central Europe without counter.
With the 2022 elections coming, we have to remain vigilant by observing the candidates’ passion to fight for our democracy. The Russian invasion is currently hindered by Ukraine’s strong defense, led by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy—bravely staying put in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. Likewise, we have to look upon our presidential candidates, that they emulate the same passion to defend Philippine sovereignty and uphold global democracy—one who’ll not take the conventional soft stance on the West Philippine Sea conflict.
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