President Marcos raised "great alarm" over the recent collision between Philippine and Coast Guard vessels and the use of water cannons by the Chinese in the West Philippine Sea.

He said the Philippine Government will lodge a protest against China on the incident in the West Philippine Sea, which he labeled as "dangerous actions."

Marcos stressed that the collision, which injured Philippine personnel, cannot be viewed in any other way "but in the most serious way."

"We continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard," Marcos said in a media interview before he left Melbourne, Australia on Wednesday, March 6. 

"And this time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen and I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way," he added. 

While the President views the recent sea incident with great alarm, he said it will not trigger him to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty.  

"I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty," he said.

The President, however, said that the country will make its objections known and "hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such actions are no longer seen in the West Philippine Sea."

In an ABC interview while he was in Australia, Marcos bared that his proposal to establish a direct line of communication between him and Chinese President Xi Jinping to avoid looming threats caused by maritime tensions has yet to materialize.

Four Philippine personnel were injured following China’s harassment and dangerous actions against Philippine vessels delivering supplies to Filipino troops stationed at Ayungin Shoal on Tuesday, March 5.