However, a growing number of comments touch on the environmental and economic aspects of the South China Sea conflict. Similarly, the document also addresses the physical environment of the Spratlys, including islands, coasts and atolls and the current system in the South China Sea.
21 st CENTURY TRILATERAL US-JAPAN-PHILIPPINE SECURITY PARTNERSHIP: CEMENTING THE LINKS
This development created a rift between the two spokes of the San Francisco system, leaving them separate, exposed and vulnerable to China's diplomatic gambit in East Asia. President Aquino and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe discussed how to strengthen their countries' strategic partnership in light of China's aggressive behavior in the aforementioned maritime area.
THE TALES OF TWO ALLIANCES
In the wake of the joint training of the PN and the JMSDF, Philippine Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin stated that there was increasing convergence of security concerns between the Philippines and Japan. The article also addresses the following related issues: What is the origin of the US-Japan security relationship and the US-Philippines alliance.
CHINA’S EMERGENCE AS A MARITIME POWER IN EAST ASIA
8 As a result, these two alliances tend towards a common goal – to limit China's maritime expansion in the first chain of islands. 16 For details on China's training exercises in surrounding waters, see National Institute for Defense Studies, NIDS China Security Report (Tokyo: National Institute for Defense Studies, 2011).
CONVERGING STRATEGIC PRIORITIES—CONSTRAINING AN ASSERTIVE CHINA
In building the country's territorial defense capabilities, the Aquino administration is sinking its teeth into challenging China's vast claims in the South China Sea as it encroaches directly into the country's EEZ. In the face of China's intrusions into Japanese waters and airspace, growing naval power and assertiveness in the East and South China Seas, Japan decided to strengthen its defensive position.
PHILIPPINE-JAPAN STRATEGIC RELATIONS PRIOR TO 2012
In addition, they explored the prospect of joint security cooperation, particularly in the areas of counter-terrorism and maritime security. The Japanese delegation, in turn, showed interest in the Philippine initiative on "Coast Watch South".
EXPLORING A PHILIPPINE-JAPAN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
It is particularly directed against China's construction of artificial islands in the disputed sea. 80 The Philippines News Agency (PNA), “Japan shares the Philippines' serious concern over China's reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea,” The Philippines News Agency (PNA) (June 5, 2015).
21 ST CENTURY PHILIPPINE-JAPAN SECURITY PARTNERSHIP
90 Yuka Hayasho, “Japan, Philippines Hold Naval Exercises in South China Sea,” The Wall Street Journal (May 13, 2015). 91 Tim Kelly and Manuel Mogato, “Japan and the Philippines are upsetting China in the South China Sea,” Reuters (May 8, 2015). p.
CONCLUSION
A US academic notes: “A SOFA with Japan would give the Philippines access to training for Japan's highly developed naval forces, repair services for the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard, and maritime reconnaissance data. On the other hand, the agreement will give the Philippines the opportunity to train with Japan's highly developed naval forces and access its maritime intelligence data.
Japan and the Philippines conduct naval exercises in the South China Sea. The Wall Street Journal, May 13, 2015. Japan, Philippines to Upset China in South China Sea.” Reuters.
REGIONAL COOPERATION AND THE ASIA-PACIFIC SECURITY ENVIRONMENT
This is evident with India's East Policy and China's beauty offensive in the region. Another reason for the changing trend of the security cooperation framework is to accommodate the reassertion of US strategic presence in the region.
CONNECTING THE LEG OF THE SECURITY TRIANGLE
Overall, bilateral relations between the Philippines and the US have grown stronger in recent years. The Philippines and the US are also exploring the possibility of a joint FON patrol in the area in the WPS.
THE PHILIPPINES, US AND JAPAN STRATEGIC CONVERGENCE
With the glaring defense gaps of the Philippines, this twin enhanced cooperation serves as extended deterrence against numerous attempts and strategies to bring about change in the current status quo in the SCS/WPS. It is important to note that the security of America's allies in the region is also a primary line of interest.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
In conclusion, the survival of the Philippines as a nation is primary, everything else is secondary. 34; United States of America and the Republic of the Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement." 24 August 2014.
TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING MINIMUM CREDIBLE DETERRENCE IN THE
PHILIPPINE SETTING
China added a new flux to world security with its bold move into the global commons through "militarization of the sea and territorialization of the seas." 1 The genius of Alfred Mahan, a renowned naval strategist greatly influenced the rise of the great naval powers of Germany, Japan, Great Britain and the USA. Army War College Annual Strategy Conference on "Defining War for the 21st Century." (2010), http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/449-corn pdf Here Corn raises a problem in contested commons in a broad framework that includes the militarization of the sea and the territorialization of the seas.
INTRODUCTION
6 Elliot Cohen and John Gooch, “Military Mishaps,” Anatomy of Failure in War, (New York: Vintage Books, 1990). MCD and MDA [Maritime Domain Awareness] are institutionally separate but related programs with one national security objective.7 MCD is implemented in the AFPMP [Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program].
MINIMUM, CREDIBLE AND DETERRENCE: ODD FRIENDS
IPCS Issues Digest (2011) http://www.ipcs.org/pdf_file/issue/IB179-NSP-AlankritaTanvi.pdf. 14 "Understanding Nuclear Deterrence: The Indian Context", National Security Advisory Board Draft Report on Indian Nuclear Doctrine 17 August 1999 http://mea.gov.in/in-focus- article.htm?18916/Draft+ Report+ of the+Indian+Nuclear+National+Security+Advisory+Board. 15 “Mutual Assured Destruction” About Education, undated http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/. 16Tanvi Kulkarni and Alankrita Sinha, op. 21Ananda Devi Almase, "What Security Matters Really Mean: A Look at the Content and Context of the 2011-2016 National Security Policy in the Philippines," National Security Study at 50: Re-awakening the NDCP.
THE GEO-HABITAT OF MCD AND MDA
MCD will operate within such a reformulation of security that includes high-priority national requirements such as
POWER BEFORE POLICY: THE CHINESE MODEL
29 Michael Pillsbury, “The Hundred-Year Marathon”, China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as a Global Superpower, (Henry Holt and Company, New York 2015) p. 27 China's growing prosperity is actually fueling rising international tensions [Emphasis supplied] in Asia.28.
THE MILITARY-NAVAL CONSTRUCT FOR MCD
The Philippines' interest in the SCS revolves around the two superpowers. China's unwillingness to attend the hearings and refusal to listen to a ruling will undermine the entire world's commitment to the global rule of law.
A CAUTIONARY TALE
40Christopher McCarthy Major USAF "The Evolution of Warfare in the Western Pacific," Naval War College, (2010). 48Rodel Cruz, “Security Sector Reform: The Way Forward for Democracy and Development,” National Security Studies at Fifties: Reawakenings, (2013). Section 517 of the [US] Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 provides that a country designated as MNNA has priority in transferring EDA [Excess Defense Articles] and using FMF [Foreign Military Financing] for commercial leases instead of government-government sales.) .
THE SCIENCE OF ASYMMETRY
One leading researcher of China's asymmetry with the rest of the world also offers a prognosis. We in the West overwhelmingly seem to think, at least these days, that the authority and legitimacy of the state is a function of democracy.
POLICY AREAS
What the Topic of Security Really Means: A Look at the Content and Context of the 2011-2016 National Security Policy in the Philippines. National Security Assessment. RSIS Working Document No. The Centenary Marathon: China's Secret Strategy to Replace America as the Global Superpower.
ENVIRONMENTAL & ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE WEST PHILIPPINE SEA
Reef systems in the Spratly Archipelago explored by JOMSRE-SCS Expeditions including Scarborough Shoal. The more recent study of the Spratlys was made in 1996-2007 by the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Oceanographic and Marine Research Expedition in the South China Sea (JOMSRE-SCS), initiated by Philippine President Fidel V.
GEOLOGICAL HISTORY
Studies by scientists from the Indochina Institute of Oceanography on the corals and other organisms in the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos in the South China Sea were conducted in the 1890s, the 1920s and the 1930s. These studies were interrupted beginning in 1933, but were resumed in the 1980s until 1996 by scientists at the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography of Vietnam in collaboration with Russian scientists (Tuan et al.
PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE SPRATLY ARCHIPELAGO
In 2007, four species of sea cucumbers were observed being dried in the sun in the Great Danger Reef (Calumpong and Macansantos 2008). They also gave the average standing stock (biomass) of fish in the area at 114 metric tons per km2.
ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE OF THE SPRATLYS
Studies of coral reef fish yield in the Philippines have shown that good to excellent high-profile coral reefs have sustainable yields of about 15-20 metric tons/km2 per year (Alcala and Russ 1990). The Spratlys most likely do not have the potential to produce more than 15-20 metric tons/km2 per year as a sustainable annual yield---until they have adequately sized no-take marine reserves that can supply fish to the fishery through adult spillovers.
CONNECTIVITY OF THE SPRATLYS
ENVIRONMENTAL DISTURBANCES IN THE SPRATLYS
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Atolls in the Spratlys are important in that they store the nutrients needed for marine production. The Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea signed in 1994 and conducted by the Philippines.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Proceedings of the Conference on the Results of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea (JOMSRE-SCS I-IV) March 26-29, 2008, Ha Long City, Vietnam. Proceedings of the Conference on the Results of the Philippines-Vietnam Joint Oceanographic and Marine Scientific Research Expedition in the South China Sea (JOMSRE-SCS I-IV) March 26-29, 2008, Ha Long City, Vietnam.
LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE PROPOSED
BANGSAMORO REGION: ENHANCING THE REGION’S CAPACITY TO PROMOTE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL
The local economy, on the other hand, remains virtually unchanged; the dominance of the same political and economic elites persists and so decentralization as it has been is incomplete and needs to be refined if not strengthened. In contrast, most of the region remains significantly deficient, underdeveloped and dominated by the same political families as before.
CRITICAL LOCAL CONDITIONS IN MINDANAO
This is most evident in the case of the Philippines, in Mindanao and even in other regions. The challenge is clear especially when we look at the state of poverty in the country.
TRANSITIONING TO GOOD LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN THE BANGSAMORO
When decentralization is introduced into an existing system, the role of central government is most crucial. The transition is essential, that the role of the national government in ushering in a new era of autonomy in the region is fundamental.
