The Philippines must not allow diplomacy to fail and must not go to war with China amid tension over the West Philippine Sea, presidential aspirant Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.
For Marcos Jr., the government should continuously engage with China in terms of discussing the sovereignty on the West Philippine Sea and make necessary solutions to avoid confrontation.
"I always use the example of the United States and China. Maalala ninyo, nagkaroon ng diplomatic relations... nagsimula ang usapan sa Ping Pong. Sino mag aakala na doon manggagaling yung solusyon kayat subukan natin lahat ng paraan (They had diplomatic relations because of talks about Ping Pong. Who would have thought it where the solution would arise. So we should use all means)," he said Tuesday night, Jan. 25 in a one-on-one presidential interview with television host Boy Abunda.
"Yung mga negosyanteng Chinese na may pamilya sa China, sabihin nila tulungan nyo naman kami dito... Unahin natin yung maliliit lang na bagay: yung mga fishermen na hindi pinapapasok, kayang kaya naman siguro natin kausapin ang China, pabayaan nyo sila (Maybe we can ask for help from Chinese businessmen here who have families in China... We can also prioritize the fishermen. We may ask the Chinese to let our fishermen fish)," he added.
Marcos Jr. said there are three options for the Philippines to assert its claim over the contested sea. They are using arbitration, going to war and having a bilateral agreement.
However, the first two should not be options, he said.
"Ang problema dyan sa China ay sinabi nila na hindi kami signatory dyan , hindi kami makikinig sa anumang findings ng court (The problem with China is they're saying that they are not a signatory in the arbitration, so they will not listen to the findings of the court). if there's only one party, it's no longer available to us," Marcos Jr. said.
The aspiring president said "the second way that territory is lost or gained is to war." But he said, it is an "option that we must dismiss outright."
"Because it is a completely ludicrous assertion that going to war with China is going to be advantageous to the Philippines or even to China," he said.
Therefore, Marcos Jr. said, the country is now left with one option—the bilateral agreement.
"We must continue to engage with China...'Pag nagpapadala tayo ng diplomatic protests, hindi sapat yan (Filing diplomatic protests is not enough). We have to still continue to try and engage in all many ways," he said.