Manila, Feb. 1 -- Adopting a "derisking" strategy would prevent China from gaining full control over the Philippines' critical infrastructure, a political analyst said on Saturday.

Speaking at the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City, professor Richard Heydarian acknowledged that the Philippines could not simply "take out China from the equation" but must take steps to limit its influence over key industries.

"Ang kailangan po natin is siguraduhin na mag-derisk tayo. Ano ang ibig sabihin ng derisk? Kasi dati sabi nila, decoupling, tanggalin lahat ng China (What we need to do is make sure we derisk. What does derisk mean? They used to say, decoupling, get rid of everything China). That's not doable. China is so important, so advanced, and...