A huge upheaval in nature and a cold cold war in diplomacy: a double whammy facing the Philippines. > News

The strong earthquake that occurred off the coast of Mindanao Island in the southern Philippines was accompanied by a geologically very unusual and destructive phenomenon. The Cotabato Trench, located near the epicenter of this earthquake, moved rapidly, causing the seafloor, which had been submerged in deep water, to rise up to 2 meters. This created an unspectacular sight where coral reefs and seaweed communities that had previously been hidden beneath the seawater were completely exposed above the water, and some coastlines underwent topographical deformation that pushed them as much as 200 meters further out to sea than before. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources officials who inspected the scene reported a miserable situation where the coast was filled with dead corals and dead marine life, suggesting that the impact of this earthquake on the marine ecosystem was not light. Geological changes go beyond simply shaking the ground and make us realize once again the power of nature that can change the shape of maps as we know them.

The power of nature led to the tragedy of loss of life and destruction of social infrastructure. According to the latest count by the Philippine National Disaster Management Committee, 61 people lost their precious lives due to this strong earthquake, and 40 people are still unknown, resulting in a total of 101 casualties. The number of injured has also exceeded 1,400, putting a heavy burden on the medical system and relief sites. Damage to residential facilities was even more severe, with nearly 10,000 houses completely destroyed and more than 50,000 buildings suffering major and minor damage, leaving hundreds of thousands of people homeless. As 725 core infrastructure, including roads and bridges, were damaged, the damage is estimated to exceed approximately 25 billion won. The Philippine government is making all-out efforts by establishing an emergency relief budget and deploying recovery personnel, but it is expected to take a considerable amount of time to normalize due to the extensive scale of damage.

Even before the scars of the earthquake had subsided, the Philippines faced another wave of all-out diplomatic war with China. China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has imposed ultra-hard sanctions against Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro and his family, banning them from entering the country and doing business within the country. Chinese authorities claim that Minister Teodoro has repeatedly criticized China, undermining sovereignty and worsening relations between the two countries, but have defined him as an 'anti-China element' without specifying the specific content of his remarks. In response, Minister Teodoro strongly countered, emphasizing that his remarks were based on the truth and that China's pressure was actually evidence of their deceptive behavior. He showed his determination not to give up his duty as Secretary of Defense to protect the country and not to succumb to China's evil expansionism in the South China Sea.

The root cause of this diplomatic conflict is the territorial dispute surrounding Scarborough Reef in the South China Sea. The Philippine government recently confirmed that China had illegally installed a floating structure within its exclusive economic zone and raised a strong diplomatic protest. On the other hand, China considers this area to be part of its territorial waters and shows no signs of backing down, dismissing the Philippines' claims as fiction. In this situation, China revealed its strategic intention to put pressure on the Philippine government and solidify its influence in the South China Sea through sanctions against Secretary Teodoro. The Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs is criticizing this measure as an unfriendly act that destroys trust between the two countries, but the gap between the two countries is widening further. The conflict surrounding the South China Sea, a strategic point in the Indo-Pacific region, is now moving beyond a simple territorial dispute and is heading towards a dangerous phase where the pride of the two countries' leadership and national security directly clash.