The Philippines needs the oil resources it can get from the West Philippine Sea (WPS) now more than China, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said.

Marcos stated this as he revealed that the national government is finding other ways to pursue the oil exploration, and possibly veering away from government-to-government discussions.

The President said the Philippines has actually worked with "many partners" before but the negotiations with China were halted due to the latter's claim on the disputed territorial waters.

"Ang talagang nangyari diyan is what? Kasi kini-claim ng China kanila 'yun, eh atin naman talaga ‘yan (What really happened there is what? Because China is claiming that it's theirs, when it's actually ours)," Marcos said in a media interview on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Marcos cited the long-standing maritime dispute and constitutional problems as the "roadblock" of the negotiations between the two countries for a joint oil exploration during the term of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

The Chief Executive admitted that this roadblock is hard to resolve.

"So sinasabi namin, sinasabi ng Pilipinas basta 'yung batas kailangan masundan 'yung sa Pinas. Ang sinasabi naman ng Chinese; hindi amin ‘yan eh, kaya kailangan masundan is Chinese (So, the Philippines was saying that our laws must be followed. While the Chinese were saying: no that's ours so our laws are what we must follow)," Marcos said.

"So 'yun talaga ang — 'yun ang roadblock doon. Mahirap makita kung papaano natin aayusin 'yun (So that's really—the roadblock there. It is hard to determine how we can resolve it)," he added.

Marcos, however, said they will need to find a way to resolve it because the resources that can be obtained from the sea are crucial to the country.

"I think there might be other ways para hindi gawing (so it won't be) G2G or I don't know. We'll have to find a way kasi kailangan na natin eh (because we already need it). We already need — kung may mahanap diyan, kailangan na talaga ng Pilipinas (Whatever we can find there, the Philippines really need it now)," he said.

He further stressed that the Philippines needs it more now than China.

"Yung China, hindi man, maliit na bagay sa kanila ‘yan, eh. Sa atin, malaking bagay ‘yan. So kailangan talaga natin ipaglaban at mapakinabangan kung mayroon mang oil talaga (It's not a huge thing for China. But for us, it's really a big deal. So we need to fight for and benefit from it if there is really oil there)," the President stated.

Before Duterte's term ended, the talks on the joint exploration of oil and gas between the two countries were "completely terminated."

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) in September revealed that the Philippines and China have so far made initial and general discussions on the possible joint exploration but have not yet progressed to "working-level talks."