President Marcos has aired his sentiments on China's aggression in the South China Sea as he reaffirmed that the Philippines remains protective of its territory.
He brought up the regional issue while he was speaking at the Presidential Palace in his bilateral meeting with Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong on Tuesday, Jan. 30.
Marcos stressed that the "South China Sea remains to be a point of contention."
"The Philippines position on the South China Sea has been consistent, clear, and firmly anchored in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," he said.
He mentioned that in his state visit to China last year, he reaffirmed with President Xi that "maritime issues should not constitute the sum total of our relations, and that we should work to enhance our comprehensive strategic cooperation."
"Despite this understanding, we continued to see the undertaking of unilateral and illegal actions that violate our sovereignty, our sovereign rights, and jurisdiction, and exacerbate tensions in the South China Sea," he lamented.
The President cited the water cannon incident in December last year, damaging a Philippine vessel that was undertaking a legitimate and routine resupply mission to the Ayungin Shoal.
It closely followed a similar water cannon incident, which happened in the vicinity of Bajo de Masinloc or Scarborough Shoal.
Marcos shared that in his conversations with Xi on the sidelines of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting last November, he stressed the need to de-escalate tensions in the South China Sea, and the Chinese leader has agreed.
"We are firm in defending our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction against these Chinese provocations. But at the same time, we are also seeking to address these issues with China and all other partners through peaceful dialogue and consultations as two equal sovereign states," Marcos said.
He further said that the Philippines is committed to work in partnership with other like-minded states to ensure a rules-based international order in the Asia-Pacific region governed by international law.
"As a maritime nation, we share a similar assessment of the current state of our regional environment with other maritime nations of the Asia-Pacific.Our countries have crucial roles to play in shaping the regional security discourse and in upholding the rules-based international order," he told his Vietnamese counterpart.
The Chief Executive also told Vietnam's president that "the Philippines is willing to work with Viet Nam for a joint submission at the appropriate time" of a Joint Submission on Extended Continental Shelf to the United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS).
"It is imperative to the Philippines and the world that the sailings and the air traffic over the South China Sea remain free for the large amount of trade that goes through those areas," he said as he expressed hopes that they can maintain a peaceful, friendly, and harmonious environment in the South China Sea through dialogue.
PH to keep pursuing military ties with US
In the same speech, Marcos stated that the Philippines, which has an independent foreign policy, will continue to beef up its defensive capabilities through military cooperation with the United States.
"I also wish to stress that the Philippines has an independent foreign policy. The Philippines considers both the United States and China as key actors in maintaining peace and security, as well as economic growth and development of our region," he said.
"The US is the Philippines’ only treaty ally. And as such, we continue to pursue military cooperation with the U.S. to strengthen our defensive capabilities and our ability to respond to humanitarian crises and disasters," he added.
Marcos also affirmed the need for the Philippines' and Vietnam's armed forces to "increase and regularly conduct high-level exchange, so that information sharing and visits and education and training exchanges will solidify and strengthen that relationship and that cooperation."