From the land, the ocean, the sky — bringing you with us to the frontlines

‘It’s an honor to carry you together with us to the frontlines via our reviews. 2026 is little doubt going to be simply as dizzying as this 12 months has been, which is why we would want your help greater than ever.’

Let me take you again to an overcast morning in June 2025 on Pag-asa Island, the most important civilian-occupied Philippine function within the West Philippine Sea. 

The seas have been simply beginning to get tough however the mission for some 20 journalists and army public info officers was clear: We needed to get aboard the BRP Andres Bonifacio (PS-17) to kick off what could be a week-long maritime patrol within the West Philippine Sea. 

Throughout our pre-departure briefing, the Naval Particular Operations Command (Navsocom) particular boat group warned us that the waves have been tough (as much as 2 meters, perhaps) and oh, there was an opportunity we’d face harassment from the China Coast Guard — however that we’d be okay, so long as we listened to and trusted in them. 

(READ: View from Manila: Defending the West Philippine Sea, one outpost at a time)

What adopted could be 20 to half-hour of holding onto a rubber boat for expensive life, praying a Hail Mary or two, and questioning if I’d be listed within the post-mission report as “man overboard” or whether or not my swimming abilities would suffice within the West Philippine Sea. 

Our expert frogmen (palaka colloquially due to their amphibious nature) deftly navigated the stretch of open sea between Pag-asa Island and PS-17. We made it in a single piece, visited Likas Island just a few days later, and, as you’ll surmise, I’ve lengthy been again on dry land. 

However it’s in coverages like these the place I pause and marvel: why on the earth did I put myself on this scenario? 

The reply is simple. 

It’s via immersive coverages like these that reporters like myself — whether or not we’re assigned to cowl protection, nationwide politics, or international affairs (all three of these, in my case) — are in a position to higher perceive the scenario and in flip, assist you, our valued readers, reduce via the noise in our info setting. 

(READ: No alibis: Retooling and modernizing the Marines)

It’s one factor to learn concerning the China Coast Guard’s harassment of Philippine Coast Guard vessels within the West Philippine Sea, however it’s one other to make eye contact with their personnel as their a lot bigger vessels sail too shut by. 

(READ: Presence is deterrence: The Philippine Navy’s pivot)

My work means monitoring down each open and closed-door discussions and selections that form how the Philippines protects what it owns and what it’s entitled to. It means making an attempt to determine if there’s a technique to the skin insanity that all of us see unfold, in actual time, on social media. 

It’s these discussions and selections that decide the place the Philippines is heading and the nation’s place on the earth — made specifically essential by the corruption disaster the Marcos administration is dealing with, Manila’s chairship of the Affiliation of Southeast Asian Nations, its bid for a United Nations Safety Council seat, and an obvious aspiration to complete the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea. 

(READ: View from Manila: What challenges await the Philippines as ASEAN chair?) 

It’s a enjoyable, albeit sometimes nerve-wracking job. It’s work that’s each a burden and privilege — to bear witness to the struggles and braveness of our maritime frontliners, to maintain tabs on how political and safety plans are progressing (or how they’re not), and to trace how Manila is managing how we current ourselves to the world. 

It’s an honor to carry you together with us to the frontlines via our reviews. 

2026 is little doubt going to be simply as dizzying as this 12 months has been, which is why we would want your help greater than ever. 

Help Rappler and assist us proceed reporting with readability, context, and braveness. – Rappler.com