PH not staging post for military action —Marcos
Published May 1, 2023 01:23 am
WASHINGTON, USA—President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said he will "not allow the Philippines to be used as a staging post for any kind of military action."
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of KJ Rosales/PPA Pool)
Marcos stated this when he was asked about how he sees the country's role in the Indo-Pacific amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region. "Simple lang ang goal natin sa Pilipinas (Our goal in the Philippines is simple), we work for peace. We’ll not encourage any provocative action by any country that will involve the Philippines by any other country," Marcos said in an interview enroute to Washington on April 30. "We will not allow that to happen. We will not allow the Philippines to be used as a staging post for any kind of military action," he added. The President stressed that his main concern is the peace and safety of Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad. He said it is the country's main consideration and its role in the region. He also pointed out that if the Philippines' goal is to maintain the safety of its people, the "best role" that it can play in the region is to lower the tensions in Indo-Pacific. "And I think the best move for us is to stay within ASEAN, keep ASEAN solid, strong, and united. So that, if that’s the case, if we are— at least, we have a consensus and areas of agreement then it will remain strong and that will be— that ASEAN will still be the one to conduct and to lead the political fortunes of all the other countries around Asia," Marcos said. Meanwhile, in his visit to the United States, the chief executive aims to make the country's position clear in the region. He will discuss with US President Joe Biden that the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and US needs to evolve, considering the various changes in the region. "As we all know, I always talk about (the need for) evolving that relationship and that just means what is their view of the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, how do they feel it will develop and what part today the United States intend to play," Marcos said when asked about his top priority during his US visit. "And again, to put our position forward, and to say that it— kami wala kaming interes kung hindi maging peaceful lang ang region namin (we have no interest other than attaining peace in our region)," Marcos added. He will further stress during the meeting with Biden that the Philippines has no interest in expanding its territory. "And so we’ll just, I suppose, put our positions, make our positions clear to everybody for both sides para naman (so that) we know how to proceed because then again, we’ll talk about the technical aspects of that," he said. Talking about the Mutual Defense Treaty, Marcos said he will bring this up with Biden "because the conditions are changing." "The conditions under which the Mutual Defense Treaty was written, the original one, are completely different from the conditions that we have, we’re facing now," he said. "China, of course, has become a very dominant in the region. The United States has become less so. And so—but then the other player, like ASEAN Member States, all the Asian states have also changed their position in the world," he added. He said evolution is needed "because we have to be able to respond to the situation as it happens."
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. (Photo courtesy of KJ Rosales/PPA Pool)
Marcos stated this when he was asked about how he sees the country's role in the Indo-Pacific amid the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region. "Simple lang ang goal natin sa Pilipinas (Our goal in the Philippines is simple), we work for peace. We’ll not encourage any provocative action by any country that will involve the Philippines by any other country," Marcos said in an interview enroute to Washington on April 30. "We will not allow that to happen. We will not allow the Philippines to be used as a staging post for any kind of military action," he added. The President stressed that his main concern is the peace and safety of Filipinos in the Philippines and abroad. He said it is the country's main consideration and its role in the region. He also pointed out that if the Philippines' goal is to maintain the safety of its people, the "best role" that it can play in the region is to lower the tensions in Indo-Pacific. "And I think the best move for us is to stay within ASEAN, keep ASEAN solid, strong, and united. So that, if that’s the case, if we are— at least, we have a consensus and areas of agreement then it will remain strong and that will be— that ASEAN will still be the one to conduct and to lead the political fortunes of all the other countries around Asia," Marcos said. Meanwhile, in his visit to the United States, the chief executive aims to make the country's position clear in the region. He will discuss with US President Joe Biden that the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Philippines and US needs to evolve, considering the various changes in the region. "As we all know, I always talk about (the need for) evolving that relationship and that just means what is their view of the situation in the Indo-Pacific region, how do they feel it will develop and what part today the United States intend to play," Marcos said when asked about his top priority during his US visit. "And again, to put our position forward, and to say that it— kami wala kaming interes kung hindi maging peaceful lang ang region namin (we have no interest other than attaining peace in our region)," Marcos added. He will further stress during the meeting with Biden that the Philippines has no interest in expanding its territory. "And so we’ll just, I suppose, put our positions, make our positions clear to everybody for both sides para naman (so that) we know how to proceed because then again, we’ll talk about the technical aspects of that," he said. Talking about the Mutual Defense Treaty, Marcos said he will bring this up with Biden "because the conditions are changing." "The conditions under which the Mutual Defense Treaty was written, the original one, are completely different from the conditions that we have, we’re facing now," he said. "China, of course, has become a very dominant in the region. The United States has become less so. And so—but then the other player, like ASEAN Member States, all the Asian states have also changed their position in the world," he added. He said evolution is needed "because we have to be able to respond to the situation as it happens."