Marcos meets with US VP Harris, discusses keeping peace in WPS

SAN FRANCISCO, California – President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met with Vice-President Kamala Harris on the sidelines of the APEC conference to discuss the situation in the West Philippine Sea.

In a video message on Thursday (US Time), Marcos said the two leaders discussed ways to "maintain the peace" in the region following recent tensions between the Philippines and China.

"We are continuously trying to maintain the peace," Marcos said. "And that is essentially what we discussed. Again, we will get the view of the Chinese President on what we can do to bring down the temperature, not to escalate the situation in the West Philippine Sea," he added.

Marcos is scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week. He said that the two leaders will discuss "ways forward" to de-escalate tensions in the West Philippine Sea.

"We will put all of these together so as we'll be able to strategize for the near future on what the Philippines' role will be or what is the proper Philippines' role in the West Philippine Sea," Marcos said.

During the President's meeting with Harris, the two leaders reaffirmed the strength of the Philippine-US alliance and reiterated their shared commitment to uphold international rules and norms, including in the South China Sea.

Wednesday's meeting was the fifth between the US Vice President and Marcos. They met previously when Harris visited Manila in November 2022; the Vice President hosting President Marcos at the Naval Observatory in May 2023; a bilateral meeting on the margins of the East Asia Summit in Jakarta in September 2023; and a trilateral meeting with Japan Prime Minister Kishida in Jakarta in September 2023