President Marcos "sincerely hopes" that the recent joint maritime drills by the Philippines, Japan, USA, and Australia would help decrease the incidents in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Marcos said this after the four nations' successful joint naval exercise within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the strategic waterway.

In an interview with reporters in Bacolod City, the President said he wished that these drills would help ease tensions in the disputed waters.

"I sincerely hope so. I really do. I really do," he said.

According to Marcos, the Philippines will continue "trying everything" to prevent further incidents from taking place in the West Philippine Sea, including ramming incidents and China's excessive use of water cannons.

"We're trying everything. We continue to talk at a ministerial level, at a sub-ministerial level, at a people-to-people level," he said.

"Lahat ng maaari nating gawin ginagawa natin para makausap ang Chinese leadership, ang Beijing, makausap sila na 'wag na natin masyadong pag-initan pa (We're doing everything we can to talk to the Chinese leadership, Beijing, to not escalate the situation)," he added.

In a joint statement, the four nations' defense chiefs described the exercise as intended to demonstrate their "collective commitment to strengthen regional and international cooperation in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific."

"These activities were designed to enhance the different forces' abilities to work together effectively in maritime scenarios," the statement read.

Meanwhile, President Marcos was not surprised by China's reaction to the drills. China conducted "combat patrols" in the disputed waterway in response to the Philippines-Japan-US-Australia multilateral drill.

"Par for the course," he said.

"That's the usual reaction from the PLA (People's Liberation Army). Maglalabas din sila ng kanilang barko (They will deploy their ships). So it's almost normal," he added.

President Marcos said he has received positive reports about the Philippines' naval drills with its allies.

The interim reports that I am getting is that: very useful talaga (it's really useful) in terms of the interoperability so that each navy knows how the other navy operates, number one; and, secondly, that they learn how to operate together," he said.

"So, maganda naman daw ang takbo (It went well)," he added.