Sandy Cay not just a sandbar

What is a sandbar? I picked from the internet a clearer and more exacting definition of a sandbar than what I had observed since my youthful explorations to and in such mostly alluring places. It, accordingly, is a natural, elongated ridge of sand or other loose sediment that forms in a body of water, such as a river, lake, or ocean. It's typically submerged or partially exposed, extending from the bottom of the water towards the surface.

Only about two weeks ago, this modern international bully called Peoples Republic of China, actually a communist country, entered again (and again) a part of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) which has been adjudged by the Permanent Arbitral Tribunal based in The Hague in Netherlands as within the Philippine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). In layman’s language, a great portion of the WPS belongs to the Philippines as the tribunal rejected the Chinese 9 dash line claim as without basis.

China, using a part of its huge military power, violated our sovereign territorial rights over the WPS and descended upon Sandy Cay. For our information, the Wikipedia describes Sandy Cay as a small coral reef located “xx in the northern Thitu Reefs of the Spratly Islands xx.” A reportage, apparently coming from Chinese propaganda arm said that China seized the cay. I noticed, in the very wording of the news. not just a reportorial flaw nor a proverbial slip of the tongue. The employment alone of the word “seize” indicated that the Chinese used its superior force and not any form of legality to step on the uninhabited sand bar to occupy it. It then proceeded to unfurl a flag, as if to claim as its own.

It was a correct thing for this administration of President Ferdinand R Marcos Jr., to react quickly to the illegal incursion of the Chinese. I have read a report that the Philippine Coast Guard also visited the Sandy Cay and, in fact, planted, unfurled and waved three Philippine flags. one on each of the sand bars forming Sandy Cay. It was a political and diplomatic victory of some sort that the Chinese Coast Guard stood only at a distance and never interfered with our crew.

Really, the Chinese more than just restrained themselves. They chickened when our coast guard set foot in the Sandy Cay because, truth to tell, there was a Balikatan Exercise then. Balikatan, which is a Tagalog term to mean “shoulder to shoulder, is an annual military exercise conducted between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the military of the United States of America. The exercise which is known to be designed to strengthen the alliance, enhance combined capabilities, of the two countries and demonstrate a commitment to regional security and stability actually involves a wide range of military operations, including joint live-fire exercises, maritime drills and humanitarian projects.

As it unfolded, the 2025 Balikatan, involved a full battle test, where realistic scenarios were used to assess combined capabilities. The exercise was announced to also include the participation from other nations, such as Australia and observers from NATO countries. China then knew that it could not show any aggressive stance against the Philippine exercise of territorial sovereignty in the presence of a collective international armada.

Our countrymen need to further such initial Philippine political and diplomatic victory over China as shown during the Balikatan Exercise with a kind of economic offensive. I mean that we ordinary citizens can do our part by boycotting Chinese made products. We must understand that, at present, we buy more goods from China than sell them our produce. Was it $34 billion worth of Chinese goods which we imported from the communists but only export to them some $8 billion only? In this deficit trading, we, in effect, partly fund the Chinese military adventurism in our land. Let us use this economic weapon now!