Duterte administration releases national security strategy

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. (File photo by JOAN BONDOC / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Duterte administration has published a national security strategy for the first time, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. said Wednesday.

Copies of the 70-page document were released at a forum on security held at the Philippine International Convention Center.

“Tatak ng Pagbabago: Tatak ng Pag-unlad” is part of a series ahead of the third State of the Nation Address that President Rodrigo Duterte will deliver on Monday, July 23.

“[This] is the first time that the national security strategy will be published in the Philippines,” Esperon said “But this is not to say that there have been no national security strategies. Ayaw na lang isulat or ayaw nilang ilabas [They just didn’t want to write it or to make it public].”

“The national security strategy defines your plan to achieve the vision for the country put as a whole handiwork of government and the people,” he added.

The new strategy is in line with the objectives set with the administration’s National Security Policy 2017 to 2022.

“We are preparing for peace,” Esperon said when asked in the forum if the country had been preparing for war with China.

The Duterte administration has been criticized for not being more assertive in its maritime claims in the South China Sea, preferring to settle the dispute with through bilateral negotiations with China.

China claims most parts of the South China Sea, but the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei have overlapping claims in the area.

“The national security strategy brings together the instruments of national power which are diplomatic, informational, military, economic, legal, finance and intel,” Esperon said. “You use all these instruments of national power to attain your objectives for a strong republic.” /atm