Philippines facing ‘info war’ over disputed seas

MANILA, Philippines — As the country prepares to mark in July the 10th anniversary of the landmark 2016 arbitral ruling on its maritime claim, senior military officials and security experts have warned of escalating “political and informational war” marked by cyberattacks, disinformation and foreign influence operations as China continues its illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive (ICAD) behavior in the West Philippine Sea.

At a recent forum organized by Stratbase Institute and Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung on Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) modernization, experts pushed for an expansion of the military’s modernization beyond traditional weapons platforms to include cyber defense, intelligence, strategic communications and cognitive warfare capabilities.

“Every day, efforts to undermine and discredit the ruling persist. In recent years, the country has faced sustained asymmetric gray zone challenges across multiple domains: water cannons and ramming incidents in the maritime space, dangerous maneuvers and flares in the airspace and information warfare in the digital domain,” Stratbase president Victor Andres Manhit said in his keynote address.

These challenges, he explained, “are expected to intensify in 2026” – thus the need for the Philippines to develop “credible capability” to assert and operationalize the landmark ruling because “we need to transition from asserting our rights to defending our rights.”

Armed Forces chief Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the 2016 arbitral ruling remained central to the Philippines’ broader effort to uphold the rules-based international order.

“(The ruling) reinforced the importance of international law as a stabilizing force in maritime relations and as a peaceful mechanism for resolving disputes. The AFP’s modernization efforts, therefore, serve a broader purpose. They are intended to preserve peace by strengthening deterrence,” he said.

‘Already at war’

Armed Forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Arvin Lagamon said the Philippines must adopt a mindset that “we are already at war.”

“Not yet a kinetic war, but the political war, the economic war and, more importantly, the cyber and informational war is already going on,” Lagamon said in his address.

He noted that the Philippines continues to confront China’s “daily illegal, coercive, aggressive, deceptive, destructive and bullying” activities at sea.

He also noted the Chinese’s “use of sharp power through their United Front Works and their malign information and foreign influence information.”

At the forum, Manhit also pushed for a “long-term and adaptive defense strategy” that would outlast political cycles and deepen defense cooperation with like-minded nations.