Beijing casts shadows on Pinoys’ future

“I will not preside over any process that will abandon even one square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power.”

This was not a line from a movie but an excerpt from the first State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. before the Batasang Pambansa in 2022.

The strong words earned him a huge round of applause and praise from the lawmakers and guests in the gallery, considering China’s continuous aggression in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

The remark, marking a pivot from the policy of Marcos’ predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte who favored closer ties with China, became an important part of the current administration’s foreign policy.

This was tested several times over the past year, however, with China’s increasing harassment of Filipino troops and fishermen in the country’s waters, particularly at Ayungin Shoal, which lies within the Philippines’ 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone.

Ayungin is where the BRP Sierra Madre, a World War II warship, was deliberately grounded by the government in 1999 to assert the country’s claim to the waters. It hosts a contingent of Philippine Marines.

The recent incidents in the WPS where Filipino sailors and fishermen were harassed by China Coast Guard and militia vessels prompted Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in late May to describe the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China as “a bit choppy.”

Trilateral Summit

China’s actions prompted the Philippines to boost its defense capabilities by forging new military agreements with its allies.

Last April, Marcos flew to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Trilateral Leaders Summit attended by his counterparts, US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

Aside from closer defense ties and a reiteration from Washington and Tokyo that they are ready to defend Manila in the face of Beijing’s increasing aggression in the WPS, Manila came away a big winner in the summit.

The Philippines is poised to generate about US$100 billion in investments in the next five to 10 years from participating in the summit.

The investment deals, as President Marcos’s economic managers have been putting together, encompass different sectors, including energy and digital infrastructure, among others.

The summit also paved the way for the launch of the Luzon Economic Corridor, which is expected to accelerate investments in critical sectors on the country’s main island.

According to the US State Department, the development of the Luzon Economic Corridor is the latest corridor of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment founded by the G7 countries and the first in the Indo-Pacific region.

Reciprocal Access Agreement

China’s continuous aggression in the WPS also played a part in the speedy approval of the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) between Manila and Tokyo, the first of its kind in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

This month, the two countries signed the defense pact that allows the transfer of defense personnel between the Philippines and Japan for training and disaster relief operations.

The RAA is said to be “equivalent” to the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between the Philippines and the United States, which provides a framework for the transfer of defense personnel between the two countries for training and relief operations.

Like Manila, Tokyo has overlapping territorial claims with Beijing in the East China Sea, particularly in the Senkaku Islands, which has long been a sticking point in the bilateral relations of the two nations.

Manila and Beijing both claim the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the larger South China Sea.

However, the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands cemented Manila’s claim to the West Philippine Sea, rejecting China’s nine-dash line claim.

China has continued to reject the arbitral ruling and stands by its historic rights over the area.

Visiting Forces Agreements

So far, the Philippines has two VFAs — one with the US and the other with Australia, whose relationship with China has also soured over the past years.

The Philippines is also near to closing another military deal, this time with Canada, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on defense cooperation earlier this year.

An important ally, Canada supported the country’s claim to the WPS by backing the 2016 Arbitral Award.

Canada was also one of the 14 observer countries at the recently concluded Balikatan exercise in the WPS.

This year’s Balikatan between the Philippines, US and France was the first multilateral maritime exercise with some 17,000 Filipino and American troops participating in the three-week drills that ran from 22 April to 10 May.