House Speaker Martin Romualdez has reiterated President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.'s stance that the Philippines is a "friend of all and enemy to none" amid the country's apparent security and defense talks with Japan.
Such talks may even lead to the Philippines and Japan crafting its own Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), at least based on pundits' observation of Marcos' ongoing visit to the East Asian nation.
In a press briefing with Manila-based reporters Friday night, Feb. 10, Romualdez was asked if he thought regional power China would feel "threatened" by such a pact between Manila and Tokyo, as this would involve the conduct of joint military exercises.
"Well, the President has made his foreign policy, very clear. He is a friend of all and the enemy to none, so he doesn't want...The President feels that peace is the most important ingredient in any foreign policy declaration," said Romualdez, who is part of the Philippine delegation to Japan.
Earlier in the interview, the Leyte 1st district representative told the journalists that he believed the Philippines and Japan were moving in the "general direction" of a VFA, or something similar.
At any rate, Romualdez--one of Marcos' most trusted lieutenants--acknowledged that such a security pact would be a boon to the Philippines.
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"Now, what we're doing is this..It's also the capacity-building for the part of the Philippines," he said.
"In fact, we are in the winning side of all of these types of arrangements or agreements because as you know, we still are a bit challenged when it comes to our defense capabilities and whatnot. So we definitely would be the most benefited one."