BEIJING, China—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. is hoping that the harassment and tension in the West Philippine Sea will be lessened following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Marcos revealed during an interview with the Philippine media delegation on Thursday, Jan. 5, that he proposed to Xi the establishment of a closer communication between the Philippines and China through teams that would have direct access to their respective presidents.

He brought this up in the hopes that the "incidents" involving Filipino fishermen, the Coast Guard and Navy in the WPS would be "minimized."

"That's entirely the point of having the bilateral team, that is continuing to discuss as I said, to raise the level of discussion into the ministerial level that have direct access to both Presidents," he said.

"The intention of course is to minimize all of these quote-unquote incidents, sana mabawasan na yun (I hope it will lessen). And I think it will," he added.

The President also stressed that the plight of Filipino fishermen to be allowed to fish in their natural fishing ground without being harassed by Chinese authorities at sea is a "very important issue" that was discussed during his three-day state visit here.

"Clearly, that's a very important issue for us and siguro naman (perhaps) after we came to an agreement with President Xi—this is an important aspect of our relationship," he said.

He further said that the Foreign Affairs Secretary and his Chinese counterpart "will finalize the organization of that and the situation of our fishermen" once the presidential party returns to Manila.

'If you fly a rocket, tell us'

The chief executive explained that he wants both sides to have a team that could easily consult and report to their respective presidents any situation that may arise in the disputed waters in order to arrive at a prompt resolution.

He noted that improved communication between the two countries would play a big role in case untoward incidents take place at sea.

"Ang aking proposal ay iakyat ang mga member ng mga bilateral. Sabi ko ang maganda sana yung Chinese members of the bilateral group have direct access to the President; ako naman on my part, titiyakin ko ang bilateral team natin ay may direct contact sa akin para diretso para nothing could be lost in translation, hindi magkakaproblema sa misinformation na maaaring mangyari (My proposal is to elevate the members of bilateral. As I said it would be good for Chinese members of the bilateral group have direct access to the President while I, on my part, will ensure that our bilateral team will have a direct contact to me so nothing could be lost in translation, we won't be facing problems on the misinformation that might happen)," Marcos explained.

"Sabi ko gumawa tayo ng paraan para kung may problema from either side, magsasabi kami sa inyo. Sabihan n'yo rin kami agad, kung magpapalipad kayo ng rocket, sabihin nyo samin. Kung may bumagsak sa Pilipinas, ire-recover namin, wala naman kaming interes na itago 'yan (I said let's find ways so that when problems arise from either side, we will notify you. Let us also know immediately if you'd fly a rocket, tell us. If something falls to the Philippines, we will recover it, we have no interest in it anyway)," the President stressed.

He said he was able to discuss this with Xi, saying "we talked about strengthening the communications between governments and also at the ministerial level and also at the Coast Guard and Navy level."

After their bilateral meeting on Wednesday, Marcos disclosed that the Chinese President has promised to find a compromise and solution so that Filipino fishermen will be able to fish in their natural fishing grounds.

Marcos concluded his three-day state visit in China on Jan. 5. He was the first state leader to visit the country this year and since China closed its doors due to Covid surge.