Senate President Francis “Chiz” G. Escudero on Tuesday said urging the Philippines to enter into more security agreements with its allies, stating that this could be an effective deterrent against China’s increasing aggressions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

In a forum with the international media, Escudero cited the country’s recent signing of a Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA) with Japan on 8 July which aims to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation between the two countries. 

He also mentioned the government’s push for similar agreements with its other allies including Vietnam, France, and Germany.

“I believe these agreements—the RAA and similar agreements with our allies—will enable us to provide an effective deterrence while our military is not strong enough to provide that kind of deterrence,” he said. 

Escudero noted that the RAA with Japan has yet to be transmitted to the Senate for its concurrence, as he viewed the Philippines-Japan defense agreement and other similar treaties with like-minded allies as “extremely important.”

He said that the Senate is set to concur with the ratification of the RAA within the year. 

"The Department of Foreign Affairs should already send the document because, after October, the chamber will be focused on the plenary debates on the 2025 spending plan of the national government," he added. 

Escudero touted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s move to bring issues on China’s aggression in WPS to the international stage.

“The fact that there are a lot of countries speaking out against them (China) is actually serving as a deterrent, too. That is what I think the President was able to do successfully—he was able to bring world attention to this issue and to rally our allies and those similarly-minded states to support the Philippines in fighting against a bully in this particular region,” he said. 

He added that Macros was able to make these states and governments understand that the case of “WPS is not isolated.”

Escudero believes that the international community should see the situation in WPS as “their concern as well.”

“This should be elevated as one of their top concerns as well. That it is not only a problem in the Philippines. These agreements highlight the success of the President with respect to achieving this goal,” he said. 

However, he noted that the Philippines should continue engaging with China while exerting efforts to build up security and defense alliances with other allies. 

“I don’t see any problem with engaging with China. We can agree to disagree. There is nothing wrong with engaging with China either in a one-on-one or in a regional setting. This can go on for the next 10, 20 years,” he said. 

“But if engagement provides for an easier path toward peace, I will be willing to do that even if it takes 2,000 diplomatic protests to avoid war. I will be willing to do that,” he added. 

Escudero lamented that all “countries have their respective domestic audiences that they should cater to, and “China is no different.”

“And the last thing you want is to lose face before that domestic audience. But on the reverse, the last thing you want is for the circumstances to force you to do something and enter into something like war simply because you wanted to save face,” he said. 

“I think that is one thing that both governments know, should understand, and should respect and pursue,” he added.