WPS tensions growing, Marcos warns

HONOLULU, Hawaii — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has vowed to protect Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea, reiterating that the country will not give up "a single square inch" to any foreign power.

Addressing the Daniel K. Inouye (DKI) Speaker Series hosted by the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies here on Sunday (US time), Marcos said the WPS is a "vital area" for the Philippines and the country is committed to upholding its sovereign rights in the region.

"The Indo-Pacific region, particularly the West Philippine Sea, is in the middle of a global geopolitical transformation and has become an arena of normative contestation," he said.

"Tensions in the West Philippine Sea are growing, with persistent unlawful threats and challenges against Philippine sovereign rights and jurisdiction over our exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf," he added.

Marcos said the Philippines will continue to work with its allies and partners to uphold the rules-based international order in the region. He also called for greater cooperation in developing rules and processes to address the challenges in the West Philippine Sea.

"The Philippines appreciates certainly the concrete manifestations of the US and the growing number of our other partners in support of the Philippine position," the President said. "The strong factual messaging and support for the local exercise of our rights under international law, and which we'll call out recent incidents in our EEZ."

"It demonstrates the strength of our alliances and partnerships, and challenges attempts to perpetuate false narratives that have become a very important front in all of these events that are happening in and around the Philippines."

While Marcos vowed that the Philippines would not give up "a single square inch" of its territory, he acknowledged that strong rhetoric alone was not enough.

Hence, he said that the Philippines will upgrade its defense and civilian law enforcement capabilities to protect its territory better. He said  the country needs to "become a reliable partner in promoting and guaranteeing regional security."

"Unfortunately, rhetoric is not enough," Marcos said. "We need to upgrade our defense and civilian law enforcement capabilities not only to defend ourselves, but also to enable us to become a reliable partner in promoting and guaranteeing regional security that will require greater substantial infusions into funding streams needed for our Armed Forces and Coast Guard modernization plans, including lines of effort to enhance cyber cooperation."

Marcos said he was optimistic the Philippines would be able to secure the resources it needs to upgrade its defense capabilities. He said he has been working with the United States and other allies to secure funding for modernization programs.

He said the Philippines and the United States are working on a bilateral planning and tracking mechanism to accelerate the development of new defense capabilities. He said the two countries are also working to strengthen their alliances with other countries in the region.

"Over the past week, our teams have been working on a bilateral planning and tracking mechanism that is expected to accelerate concrete and substantial capability development investments and activities in order to meet our shared defense and security objectives over the next five years," Marcos said.