Strengthen PH-US ties amid Asia-Pacific volatility — Marcos
At A Glance
- Marcos believes that a stronger relationship between the Philippines and the US might be vital in finding "new responses" to geopolitical issues.
- China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships escorting boats conducting a resupply mission on Sunday, Aug. 6.
- Marcos assured the public that the government would continue asserting the country's sovereignty while continuing talks with the Chinese government in hopes of resolving the issue.
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. cited the need to further strengthen the Philippines' long-standing ties with the United States of America, following what he called the "volatility" in geopolitics, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Marcos said this during his meeting with US Senator Tammy Duckworth in Malacañang on Tuesday, Aug. 8.
In his remarks, the President delved into the ties between the two allied countries and the need to strengthen the relationship further.
He said a stronger relationship between the Philippines and the US might be vital in finding "new responses" to geopolitical issues.
"I think we must continue to promote and to hopefully make even stronger and deeper and especially with the volatility that we are observing in geopolitics, especially in our region, but not limited to our region but all over the world, is something that we need to find new responses for and to take new positions for," he said.
Marcos' remarks came following the incident near Ayungin Shoal wherein China Coast Guard (CCG) vessels fired water cannons at Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) ships escorting boats conducting a resupply mission on Sunday, Aug. 6.
A day after the incident, the President assured the public that the government would continue asserting the country's sovereignty while continuing talks with the Chinese government in hopes of resolving the issue.
"We continue to assert our sovereignty. We continue to assert our territorial rights in the face of all of these challenges and consistent with international laws and UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), especially. That has always been our stand," he said.
"But we still have to keep communicating with the Chinese government, with President Xi [Jinping], with Beijing. We still have to keep communicating with them because we need to really come to a conclusion," he added.
Marcos added that he would hold a command conference about the incident on Aug. 7 to discuss how the Philippines should respond. He, however, refused to divulge details.