International opinion supporting Philippine position will not force China to give back Scarborough Shoal to the Philippines. The Philippines has to initiate that. Does the Philippines then have the will to carry out an operation to liberate Bajo de Masinloc/Scarborough Shoal from Chinese control?

Expect the Ateneo de Manila itself to die from this disaster, its lux-in-domino luster to lose its brilliance for some years to come. And that is because in the eyes of the Filipino people it has shown the opposite of its conscience and compassion to be in solidarity with the marginalized.

This is the first time in a long long time that those of us on the side of democracy and justice have been on the same page. Fully, on that one page, no ifs and buts, no bickering among ourselves, foregoing — at least for now — where we stand across the political divides. Finally, we have decided that this side, this one side, is the side we are on...The goal is to stay on it, and keep at it. And find a common candidate for 2028. We start by keeping track of this serye.