[Rappler’s Best] Of drone wars and China’s long game

The war in the Middle East entered its second week without any end in sight. Not even US President Donald Trump seems to know his desired outcome from the blistering AI-directed airstrikes that the US and Israel have been mounting against Iran and Lebanon in the last nine days.

In the Philippines, the prospect of P90 per liter of gasoline is now an emerging risk, writes Val Villanueva. 

• In a worst-case scenario, the economy could suffer from a double shock that would threaten its road to an A-level credit rating, Den Somera says in this piece.
• For now, Filipinos working in the Middle East choose to stay there.

• How should the government respond? JC Punongbayan recommends measures for the departments of finance and energy, among others.
• Ahead of everything else, Malacañang announced a four-day onsite workweek in some government agencies starting Monday, March 9, as part of energy conservation measures. 

The US-Israel blitzkrieg could not have come at a worse time for the Philippines, as higher food prices continued to push inflation up; a massive corruption scandal has not jailed the big guns behind it; the House is a few steps away from impeaching, again, Vice President Sara Duterte; and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is perceived to be limping his way to the end of his term in 2028.

China, meanwhile, has its eye on the ball here: assert control and ownership of the seas that legally belong to the Philippines and disrupt — if not break — the Marcos government’s vigorous alliance with the US.

We’ve seen how this has manifested in overt ways — from constant Chinese harassment of Philippine ships and sailors in the West Philippine Sea to the aggressive character of Beijing’s new envoy to Manila.  

But in her exclusive investigative series, Bea Cupin unmasks a covert operation that has infiltrated the security sector and extracted information that helped guide Beijing’s unconcealed attacks against the Philippines.

• Part 1 exposes the Philippine government’s discovery of researchers in the defense department and the Philippine Navy, as well as one with ties to the Coast Guard, who were working for Chinese bosses.
• Part 2 tells us how “Lawrence” and “Alison” were lured into working for supposed consultancy firms run by Chinese nationals, what they were told to do, and how much they earned.
• Part 3 zeroes in on how a Chinese national got his hands on details of a sensitive resupply mission to the West Philippine Sea in 2023.
• Bea tackles our antiquated laws on espionage, and what needs to be done.

In a matter of hours after we broke the first part of the series on March 4, the National Security Council confirmed it and gave assurances that the spying operation had been terminated. We imagine many civilian and military officers in the security sector heaving a sigh of relief that the arrest of these individuals has been made public.

China, after all, is single-minded in its agenda for the Philippines, its fair and foul tactics geared toward asserting what it claims to be its territorial and sovereign rights — and toward reverting to a place of honor that it used to hold here under Rodrigo Duterte.

That place of honor is within reach, in 2028. And one could sense that Beijing and its acolytes are beginning to act like presidential candidates this early — bulldozing their way to perceived roadblocks to their road to #2028.

• For one, as Marites Vitug asks, is China out to weaken Marcos? 
• At the start of the year, the Chinese embassy opened a word war with opposition senator Risa Hontiveros and her party Akbayan, as well as civilian officials and generals.
• In February, the Chinese embassy trained its guns on the independent Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism.

China is in for the long game. Whereas the Philippines? Ah, the Coast Guard spokesperson had to deny calling the Department of Foreign Affairs a “troll.” 

Here are some of Rappler’s bests that you shouldn’t miss:

Bea Cupin contextualizes the Philippines’ push for a seat in the United Nations Security Council, as President Marcos arrives in New York to speak at the 70th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women and during a special session before the UN General Assembly.

Victor Barreiro Jr. unpacks how the deployment of low-cost combat drones has changed the nature — and economics — of wars.

Dwight de Leon explains why the anti-dynasty bill that has passed committee level at the House of Representatives is a joke.

Lian Buan tells us about the long and arduous road to The Hague of families, lawyers, and advocates for the victims of extrajudicial killings.

Iya Gozum reminds us that tracking fishers at sea is supposed to be one of the solutions against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. Why is it hard to do? 

Dwight de Leon cites the ties that bind controversial Quezon City congressman Bong Suntay to Vice President Sara Duterte. Jairo Bolledo tells Suntay that, no, lewd remarks are not a compliment.

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– Rappler.com

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