Negotiating from a position of strength in the West Philippine Sea

IT doesn't take a genius to figure this out. China is not in the mood to negotiate with us if it perceives us as weak. All it must do is to impose its brute force. What will force it into the negotiating table is when we offer it the chance that it becomes more costly for it to continue its bullying tactics on us.

Anyone with common sense would know that negotiations begin not with one side acquiescing or capitulating to the other, but when the weaker would offer the stronger the possibility of suffering more if it continues to impose its will. For six years under the Duterte administration, the Philippines capitulated to China's demands. It began when the former president diminished our hard-earned victory at the Permanent Court of Administration at The Hague. The capitulation was framed as in the best interest of the country and was projected as the only way for us to avoid war with China. President Rodrigo Duterte waged a brutal war against drugs and rebels internally while he played the war card against our interest in the West Philippine Sea.