📷 President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Sunday, June 23, that the country will stand firm without using force or intimidation amid territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea at the core of a territorial dispute with China.
“We are not in the business to instigate wars,” Marcos told soldiers at the Western Command in Palawan.
“In defending the nation, we stay true to our Filipino nature that we would like to settle all these issues peacefully,” Marcos added.
China Coast Guard personnel boarded the Philippine naval boats resupplying a military outpost in the Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on Monday, June 17.
A Filipino lost his thumb during the incident as Manila accused the Chinese government of ramming boats, stealing weaponry, and destroying them.
However, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said on Friday that the latest dispute with China isn’t an “armed attack” that would lead to activating the country’s mutual defense treaty with the United States.
Marcos said the Philippines will keep using its freedom and rights in compliance with international law as he gave medals to those who participated in the resupply mission.
“We will never be intimidated or oppressed by anyone,” Marcos said.
Marcos awarded medals to 80 sailors who took part in the resupply mission, urging them to “continue to fulfill your duty of defending the nation” even as he said the situation had become “dangerous.”
Ayungin Shoal is located about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China’s nearest major landmass, Hainan Island.
In earlier encounters, Chinese soldiers attacked Filipino supply ships and their escorts with military-grade lasers and water cannons.
“We have never, never in the history of the Philippines, yielded to any foreign power,” Marcos said as he pledged to “continue to exercise our freedoms and rights in support of our national interest, in accordance with international law”.
“Our calm and peaceful disposition should not be mistaken for weakness,” Marcos added. (TCSP)
