菲律賓武裝部隊總兵力可應付內部共產黨和分離主義份子的叛亂，相對的以目前有限的傳統作戰能力和老舊武器裝備，除了掌握地緣之利外，整體戰力並不足以與台灣、中國相比。但是就軍事的角度而言，菲律賓在南中國海爭端中所表達的核心價值是：以現有甚至全部軍力展現護衛領土主權的決心。反觀台灣於1999 年卻以兵力不足為由主動自東、南沙撤軍，顯示國防部對作戰任務的主從順序認識不足且缺乏國際觀，更傷害國家主權利益與不負責任。

The total strength of the armed forces of the Philippines to cope with the insurgency of internal communists and separatists sufficiently, but on the contrary the conventional operation capabilities are current limited and outdated weapons and equipment, in addition to grasp the geopolitical benefits, the overall operation capabilities is not enough compared with Taiwan, China. Still, in terms of the military point of view, the Philippines in the South China Sea dispute expressed in the core value is: to present or even all military power to show the determination of defending territorial sovereignty. On the other hand, in 1999, Taiwan withdrew its forces from the Pratas Islands and Spratly Islands shows that the Ministry of National Defense has a lack of understanding priorities of operational missions and lacks an international outlook, and hurts national sovereignty interests and irresponsible.