Australia trip and alliances

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PRESIDENT Marcos Jr.’s recent trip to Australia, during which he addressed the Australian Parliament, cannot be touted by the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) as a complete success. The fact is, not all Australians are happy with Bongbong’s visit, some are even angry at him and his late father, the strongman Ferdinand Marcos Sr. — furious enough to mount protest actions in and out of Parliament during his speech.

Bongbong did not say anything unexpected or earthshaking in his speech, as he came with a huge luggage of motherhood statements about Philippine-Australian friendship and cooperation.

The President harkened back to the days of World War 2 when the Philippines and Australia found themselves fighting on the side of the United States against Japan. From this introduction, it was easy for Marcos to segue to the present, expressing gratitude to Australia for supporting the Philippines in its maritime dispute with China in the South China Sea.

‘The right thing to do as regards national security and defense is to prioritize the modernization and training of a strong army…’

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Marcos came to power in 2022 when the China problem was turning to a new low, with incidents of water cannon attacks from the Chinese Coast Guard, swarming in the artificial islands, and shooing of Filipino fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc and the Panatag (Scarborough) shoal. This was exacerbated when President Marcos agreed with the US to increase sites under Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) from five to nine, with the locations of the military installations in Northern Luzon, very much close to Taiwan.

In his remarks at the Australian Parliament, Marcos reiterated his foreign policy direction unveiled when he first came to power. The President declared, “I shall never tire of repeating the declaration that I made from the first day that I took office: I will not allow any attempt by any foreign power to take even one square inch of our sovereign territory.”

This time, Bongbong followed it up with, “The challenges that we face may be formidable, but equally formidable is our resolve. We will not yield.”

While diplomatic rhetoric might be pleasing to the ear, it carries little weight in the stark, day-to-day realities of diplomacy. Marcos was lucky that he was speaking in Australia, a regional neighbor which is second only to the US in its abhorrence of China’s maritime policies in the region.

It is interesting to note that the Philippines has a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) only with two countries — the US and Australia. While the President has dished out courageous words on sovereignty and defending Philippine territory, Filipinos back home cannot help but worry about the country’s ability to put the Commander-in-Chief’s strong words into equally strong action.

The right thing to do as regards national security and defense is to prioritize the modernization and training of a strong army, in the face of various geopolitical developments in the Asian region and the world. Military alliances such as what we have with the US and Australia are important, but nations cannot depend on allies alone because to do that is to shirk the responsibility of nationhood.

In his next international engagement, Marcos will have an opportunity to talk with the leaders of Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei, his colleagues in the ASEAN. Like the Philippines, these countries also have conflicting claims with China in the South China Sea, and Marcos can learn a thing or two from them on how to maintain good neighborly relations with China without abandoning their maritime claims.

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