Developments in the West Philippine Sea will be among the top issues defining the 2025 elections. —Richard A. Reyes
MANILA, Philippines — The West Philippine Sea and illegal Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (Pogo), on top of inflation, will be among the key issues at stake in the 2025 polls, geopolitical and national security experts said on Monday.
In a forum organized by Democracy Watch Philippines, in partnership with Stratbase ADR Institute, experts mentioned the issues, which were also discussed during President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s third State of the Nation Address.
READ: Pagcor to act on Pogo ban; 42,000 Filipino workers to be displaced
“Disinformation, misinformation, and cyber security threats impact our politics, impact our lives. We have seen that not only on security issues. We see that also in the political discourse. That’s why I have shared that we are still in a pandemic of misinformation, and we need to stop the spread of disinformation in the West Philippine Sea and even in economic issues,” Stratbase President and geopolitical expert Professor Dindo Manhit said in a statement.
“They have weaponized social media. They have organized message targeting and propaganda campaigns through trolls. They have amplified disinformation and public opinion manipulation on social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube. There is an information warfare, and we consider this an issue as we go into the 2025 election,” he added.
Citing previous reports, Manhit also mentioned suspended Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo, a Chinese national currently being investigated by the upper chamber for her alleged ties to an illegal Pogo hub in her town.
Illicit activities
“Pogos have been linked to various illicit activities, including money laundering and human trafficking. These undermine the rule of law and governance in our country. Worse, they are also a threat to our national security considering the proximity of some of these Chinese-led businesses to military facilities,” he added.
“It is a legitimate concern that China could leverage the presence of Pogos and use them as Trojan Horse to compromise the country’s security framework. The reports of alleged People’s Liberation Army uniforms found in some Pogo hubs are alarming indicators that they can be used for covert operations or intelligence-gathering,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Political Science Professor Alma Salvador said the existence of Pogos and the illegal activities could be a weakness and an indictment against the country’s regulatory institutions.
“The fact that we’ve allowed Pogos that are very much related to transnational criminal activities in which some Chinese or a lot of Chinese are also being implicated says something about the robustness or the lack of robustness of our regulatory institutions,” Salvador said.
“If we are to achieve our [economic] goals in 2040, then we need to be able to capacitate ourselves, even institutions that would allow us to progress and achieve our economic and our security goals,” she added.
Last July 22, Marcos announced the all-out ban on Pogo, as he directed the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to wind down and cease its operations by the end of the year.
Top issues
For his part, geopolitical expert Richard Heydarian claimed that the West Philippine Sea issue will be among the top issues defining the 2025 elections.
“We’re going to see, I think, for the first time in recent memory, West Philippines and foreign policy issue becoming one of the, not number one, but top three, at least, issues that will define upcoming elections,” he said.
“It’s not one of the most urgent issues, but it is emotionally charged. And if you embed it or nest it in a bigger narrative about corruption, crime, and treason; when you put it in that context, I think the West Philippine Sea issue can be a more politically potent point, not only in the upcoming elections, but also for the administration,” he added.