When some lives are worth more than others

BEFORE the headline item, a quick note on the Philippines’ wise decision, announced this week, not to join planned naval exercises in the South China Sea (SCS) led by the United States.

One maritime expert argues that staying out of the military maneuvers sends mixed signals, especially after President Rodrigo Duterte earlier this year suspended moves to abrogate the 1998 Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US, and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. affirmed last month the four-year-old arbitral decision on Beijing’s “nine-dash line” sovereignty claim over nearly all of the SCS.