In State of Union Speech, Marcos Pledges to Defend Philippine Territory – The Diplomat

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has used his annual State of the Union speech to emphasise his administration’s resolve to defend the nation’s territorial integrity, following a yr of rising frictions in disputed waters.

Couched between claims about his administration’s robust financial report and an announcement of an amnesty for armed insurgents, Marcos vowed that the nation’s territory would stay “inviolable.”

As so typically in these cases, the Philippine chief’s speech didn’t explicitly point out China, however the context made it abundantly clear that the Philippine chief was referring to the tensions within the South China Sea, which have intensified significantly over the previous two years.

“Our journey to progress requires not solely unity and social cohesion amongst our individuals. It is usually crucial that our nation stays intact and inviolable,” Marcos mentioned, in response to The Related Press, to applause from lawmakers and authorities officers within the Home of Representatives.

“We are going to shield our sovereign rights and protect our territorial integrity, in protection of rules-based worldwide order,” he added. “With our nationwide curiosity paramount, we’ll at all times pursue fixed dialogue and diplomatic approaches to the decision of any situation which will come up.”

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Marcos famous that the Philippines would stick to the coverage of being “a buddy to all and enemy to none,” a method that he mentioned has confirmed efficient.

The speech caps off a yr by which the Marcos administration has stiffened its stance towards Chinese language incursions, within the South China Sea, the place Beijing’s maximalist “nine-dash line” declare intersects with a big a part of the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile Unique Financial Zone. Final yr, bridging the Duterte and Marcos administrations, Manila filed practically 200 diplomatic protests towards Chinese language actions.

As a part of this effort, Manila has fortified its treaty alliance with the USA, which had stagnated underneath his erratic predecessor Rodrigo Duterte. In February, Marcos accredited the U.S. army’s entry to 4 further bases underneath the 2014 Enhanced Protection Cooperation Settlement (EDCA), bringing the entire quantity to 9. (Two are positioned on the island of Palawan, near the disputed Spratly Islands.) EDCA permits the U.S. army to rotate troops via choose Philippine army bases, and to make use of amenities comparable to runways and gas storage depots.

The Marcos administration has additionally gone to a lot larger lengths to publicize Beijing’s aggressive deployments of coast guard and maritime militia vessels into Philippine-claimed waters, and has ramped up its patrols, sorties, and overflights of disputed areas. For example, in February, the Philippine Coast Guard introduced {that a} Chinese language coast guard ship had allegedly aimed a military-grade laser at a Philippine patrol vessel near Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef contained in the nation’s EEZ. The laser briefly blinded among the crew aboard the vessel and prevented it from approaching the shoal to resupply the marine unit stationed there.

Final month, the Philippines additionally hosted the primary trilateral train with the coast guards of Japan and the USA.

On the identical time, Marcos has made efforts to not alienate China, with which the Philippines enjoys mutually helpful financial relations. His reference to “dialogue and diplomatic approaches” was subsequently clearly supposed to telegraph that the improved safety relations with the U.S. are aimed not at China however supposed to help the protection of Philippine claims – disputes that may in precept be resolved via dialogue.

Nonetheless, provided that China has to this point proven little curiosity in reaching a ultimate negotiated settlement with rival claimants, not to mention on the premise of worldwide legislation, the Philippines will proceed to face a fragile steadiness in strengthening its safety ties with Washington whereas sustaining a secure financial relationship with China.