War is not an option in pursuing the Philippines’ claim in West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), however, the country still needs “to develop a credible defense posture,” Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio said during the the 20th National Press Forum of the Philippine Press Institute at the Century Park Hotel in Manila on Thurday.
“Tension will increase. It will be a turmoil in the South China Sea,” Carpio said.
“We have to develop our own self-defense just to make it costly for any country to grab our territory,” He added.
Carpio, who was part of the Philippine delegation that argued before the tribunal in July last year, said “We will not start the war we know we will lose… If we remain in our right mind, we will not start a war with China.”
While Carpio expressed confidence that the Philippines has strong arguments in its case, he acknowledged that enforcing it would be a different matter.
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