In an entry he wrote in his diary, dated 12 June 1972, then-President Ferdinand E. Marcos revealed that “Bongbong is our principal worry- he is too carefree and lazy.”
If Marcos’ père were around today, seeing how his son has grown in stature would tell him that his worries of yore about his son’s lack of vigor were all for naught; in all likelihood, he would, in fact, be beaming with pride for the way his junior has been comporting himself on the global stage, indefatigably since he assumed office, representing his people and the country and working for their best interests.
His last trips abroad were to an official state visit to Brunei, then on to Singapore to deliver the keynote address at the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue, the first Filipino leader ever asked to address Asia’s premier defense summit by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The annual event is attended by security experts and top defense officials from various countries including the US and China.
In his speech, which focused on ASEAN regional centrality, non-negotiability where it concerns the upholding of international law, and regional security challenges in Indo Pacific particularly “illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive actions (which) continue to violate our sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdictions,” — apparently referring to China’s aggressive behavior in the South China Sea which the superpower claims virtually in its entirety and particularly its new rules that empower its Coast Guard vessels to fire on seacraft and detention of “trespassers” in waters, including in the West Philippine Sea, which China claims as its own.
Still, he stressed that the Philippines remains committed to peace, and “addressing and managing difficult issues through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Marcos Jr.’s address was hailed by summit delegates, with US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III praising the Philippine president for speaking “so eloquently about the rule of law in the South China Sea (and) so powerfully about how the Philippines is standing up for its sovereign rights under international law.”
Austin recognized that the “harassment faced by the Philippines is dangerous — pure and simple. And we all share an interest in ensuring that the South China Sea remains open and free.”
The applause was hearty, particularly when Marcos Jr., clearly contrasting the Philippines against Beijing’s fantastic 10-dash line claiming wide swathes of the South China Sea, including nearly all of the Philippines Exclusive Economic Zone in the West Philippine Sea, said, “the lines that we draw on our waters are not derived from just our imagination, but from international law.”
Warm response from the audience, except for the Chinese among the delegates, one of whom, Major General Xu Hui, commandant of the Chinese military’s International College of Defense Studies, was the first to stand up to express a reaction to Marcos’ speech.
The Chinese General asked Marcos to comment on what he claimed were perceptions by the international community that the Philippine’s actions in the region would run the “risk of ruining the regional long-term, long-lasting peace since the end of colonized history.”
In response, Marcos stated, “There is no such thing as a regional issue any longer. We have all experienced the unexpected effects of the war in Ukraine, of the conflict in the Middle East, and when we talk about the South China Sea, we have to remember that the South China Sea is the passageway for half of world trade, and therefore, peace and stability in the South China Sea and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea is a world issue.”
More applause rang through the hall. Marcos Jr., for all intents and purposes, is gradually stepping out of his father’s shadow, and coming into his own, gaining recognition and respect from the international community, as a leader of a small nation making a stand against a belligerent superpower — superbully is more like it — in this part of the world.
Still and all, the real test will come if and when China’s belligerence in the Philippines’ territorial waters results in a fatality.
To recall, Marcos Jr. had said in April that he would invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty signed by the Philippines and the US if a Filipino serviceman is killed in an attack by a foreign power.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, he said invoking the MDT now includes the death of fishermen and other civilians, including journalists, if such an attack happens.
Marcos’ statement comes after China’s new rules which will have its military vessels in the South China Sea detain suspected trespassers in waters it claims as its own, a critically complex situation seeing how China has accused vessels of trespassing even if these are Filipino-manned sea craft within the Philippine EEZ.
Under such a situation, if a fatality occurs, action — not words — will matter. What will he, the President, do?