PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. arrived yesterday from Washington with the commitment of the United States and Japan for a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
The President, who arrived at 3:03 a.m., also touted the success of his trip which he said focused on promoting and strengthening the three countries’ economy amid developments in the region and the rest of the world.
In a videotaped arrival speech, Marcos said he, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Fumio reaffirmed their commitment to a “peaceful, secure, and prosperous Indo-Pacific” that is guided by the three countries’ shared values of democracy, the rule of law, human rights, and gender equality.
The President said they also discussed ways of enhancing cooperation in a number of areas of mutual concern, including enhancement of economic resilience and security, promotion of inclusive growth and development, addressing climate change, and on maritime cooperation.
Marcos said the US and Japan also expressed support for the Philippines development especially in its infrastructure and connectivity sectors, among others.
“We also exchanged views on a number of regional security issues of mutual concern.
I took the opportunity to update President Biden and Prime Minister Kishida on the latest developments in the South China Sea, including the recent incident at Ayungin Shoal,” he said.
US-PH ALLIANCE
Marcos said he and Biden reaffirmed their commitment to the long-standing Philippines-US alliance.
Biden has vowed that the US’s support for the Philippines and Japan is “ironclad” amid China’s aggressiveness in the South China Sea. China is claiming almost the entire South China Sea which overlaps with claims of the Philippines and Japan to some areas.
Prior to returning to Manila, the President emphasized that the trilateral meeting is “a continuing evolution” of the relationship among the three countries and not based on the developing “new situation” in the Indo-Pacific region.
He said the meeting focused on unity and the economic development of the three nations, including the security and defense in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Siyempre, as I said, kasama ang security defense diyan dahil walang mangyayari sa ekonomiya, walang mangyayari sa mga plano natin kung magkagulo. So, siyempre, nais natin na ‘wag masyadong magkagulo (As I said, included there is security, defense because nothing will happen to the economy, nothing will happen to our plans if there is disorder.
So, of course, we do not want to have disorder),” he added.
The President, in a forum in Washington, also highlighted the importance of the Philippine-US alliance which he said significantly contributes to the country’s ability to defend itself and address security threats.
The trilateral meeting was held in Washington amid China’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea. The latest was last month, which injured Navy personnel and damaged Philippine vessels.
Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel III said the trilateral summit is “historic” but the agreements entered into by Manila with Washington should have been focused on economic cooperation, not on military.
“Ito dapat ang himayin natin. Ano ba itong pinasok natin na agreement na ito? Ito at least nakasulat ito, formal ito, puede natin i-analyze (This is what we should scrutinize. What agreement did we enter into? At least the agreement is written, it is formal, so we can analyze them,” Pimentel said on Filipino in an interview with radio dzBB.
Pimentel said expressed hope the summit was more about economic agreements.
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Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez last week said the Philippines is looking at generating around $100 billion worth of investments in different sectors, like energy and digital infrastructure, from the trilateral summit.
Pimentel also said the Marcos administration should increase trade agreements with China in a bid to ease escalating tension in the West Philippine Sea.
AGREEMENT
On the supposed “gentleman’s agreement” entered into by former President Duterte with China, Pimentel said is no longer binding as it is “obviously a personal agreement” that was honored during Duterte’s presidency.
Former presidential spokesman Harry Roque was the first to confirm the former president’s secret pact with China. Duterte, who initially denied that there was such a pact, on Thursday admitted that he and Xi had an agreement to maintain the status quo in the WPS to keep the peace in the area and avoid any conflict.
He said the agreement meant that there will be “no movement, no armed patrols.”
At the House, Mandaluyong Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, chair of the House special committee on the West Philippine Sea, said the agreement is “constitutionally void” because it is “tantamount to the surrender of our country’s sovereign rights over our exclusive economic zone.”
Like President Marcos Jr., Gonzales said, he was “truly horrified by the idea that our country’s territory, sovereignty and sovereign rights may have been compromised by a deal guised as an ‘agreement’ to maintain the peace and status quo in the WPS.”
He said the agreement is not enforceable because it “will be equivalent to a new national policy, which must be enshrined in a treaty to be submitted to the Senate for ratification before it can take effect.”
“There are still some necessary criteria that we should satisfy before it is considered legally binding here in the Philippines. First, for the alleged ‘agreement’ to be enforceable, it must be in the form of an executive agreement. Since there is no official record under our records, the alleged ‘agreement’ may not be considered an executive agreement,” he said.
“The more important question we should ask is whether it was even wise for anyone, no less than the President of the land, to even consider, much more agree, to the conditions of this so-called ‘gentleman’s agreement,’” Gonzales said.
“We should ask if this supposed deal really have any value to the ordinary Filipino people. If there is truly an agreement, did it achieve its objective of peace and status quo?” he added.
Zambales Rep. Jefferson Khonghun, an assistant majority leader, reiterated the need for the House to investigate the agreement, saying either Duterte or Beijing is lying because the former president initially denied its existence even if Beijing has confirmed it.
“Who is lying – Duterte or China – regarding the existence of the contentious agreement?” he said.
It was Rep. France Castro (PL, ACT) who first broached the idea of probing the secret deal. Now, she said, Duterte’s admission gives the House more reason to probe the secret pact. — With Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
