ARMED with a 2016 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration on the issue of the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea, President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (BBM) yesterday said he will assert the Philippines’ territorial rights and defend the country’s sovereignty by talking continuously with China “with a firm voice.”
“We have the arbitral ruling, so of course, we have a very important ruling in our favor. We will use it to continue to assert… our territorial rights. It’s not a claim, it’s a territorial right.
That’s what the arbitral ruling can do to help us,” Marcos said in mixed English and Filipino during his first sit-down interview with select media networks since being proclaimed president on Wednesday.
He said the country under his leadership “will not allow a single square millimeter of our maritime, coastal up to 200 meters rights to be trampled upon.”
“How do we do that? We talk to China consistently in a firm voice…We continue to discuss with them the conflicting claims that we have with China and that China has with other ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) members,” he added.
Marcos said he would also ensure that communications with China would continue, while ties forged with other countries especially in the region remain strong.
He also said that the country does not need to go to war with China to assert its claim and war is the last thing that everyone needs now.
“There is no wiggle room there. Our sovereignty is sacred. We will not compromise it in any way. We are a sovereign nation with a functioning government. We do not need to be told by anyone how to run our own country. There is no room for negotiation there. It is sacred, inviolable,” he added.
Marcos said this was the same message that he conveyed to Chinese President Xi Jinping when they talked recently.
“He (Xi) called me to congratulate me on winning the elections. I said we have to continue to talk about this. This cannot be allowed to fester and to become more severe in terms of a problem between our two countries,” he added.
The Philippines, China, Brunei Vietnam, Malaysia and Taiwan have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.
In 2016, however, the Permanent Court of Arbitration recognized the Philippines’ sovereign rights and jurisdiction over a 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and invalidated China’s claims over almost the entire South China Sea.
China continues to reject and recognize the ruling.
Chinese ships continue to be seen in parts claimed by the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, including the Kalayaan Island Group in the municipality of Kalayaan.
FOREIGN POLICY
President Duterte, at the start of his term in June 2016, temporarily set aside the maritime dispute to pursue the rekindling of friendly ties with China ,which resulted in several Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in the county, among others.
Duterte has repeatedly said his administration was not giving up the country’s sovereign rights when it focused on cooperation and relations with China such as in the areas of trade and investment. He has said “the sum total of its (Philippine) relations with China does not start and end with the West Philippine Sea or South China Sea.”
He also pursued an independent foreign policy wherein the Philippines is a friend to all and enemy to no one.
Marcos, in stressing the importance of forging partnerships with the other countries, especially with those in the region, agreed with this policy of Duterte.
“I think we have to find an independent foreign policy where we are friends with everyone, that’s the only way. We have to be good neighbors and we ask them to be good neighbors to us as well. It is of mutual benefit to us,” he said.
He said forging bilateral partnerships is important especially at this time when the world is recovering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“As I told the ambassadors, not only economically but geopolitically, as we emerge from the pandemic and the crisis it brought, we have to form alliances and partnerships because no country can recover or change the geopolitical situation on their own and those are the partnerships that will keep things stable,” he said.
Last week, ambassadors from different countries, including the United States and neighboring countries in the region, paid a courtesy call on Marcos to convey their countries’ cooperation with his administration and discuss developments in the region.
