Here’s where the presidentiables stand on the West Philippine Sea dispute

The Philippines has an Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US, but if Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago had her way, the EDCA should have been ratified by the Philippine Senate first and not just be an executive agreement. In the Mindanao-leg of the presidentiable debates held last February 21, Miriam cautioned that the Philippines was merely a pawn caught between the interests of both China and the US. Instead of the EDCA, she wants the Philippines to seek support from all the ASEAN countries, since they are the ones directly involved in the region.

Miriam asserted during the debate that “we must stand for sovereign rights and must join any movement to declare independence against an imposed sovereignty.”