President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. on Monday said that the growing tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) prompted the country to boost its ties with the United States.
He made the statement during the roundtable meeting at the Daniel L. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Marcos called US as the country's 'main and only treaty partner.'
"The United States is our, I would say, our oldest and most traditional partner and that has been in various forms, ongoing over a hundred years. And I think, it serves as well to remember that the United States is the Philippines' only treaty partner," the President said.
"The increasing tensions in the West Philippine Sea require that we partner with our allies and our friends around the world to be able to come to some kind of resolution and maintain peace," he continued.
Marcos also reiterated that the Philippines will not cede any territory despite the "more dire" territorial dispute.
"As I have said before, and I will say again, the Philippines will not give up a single square inch of our territory to any foreign power. The law is clear as defined by UNCLOS and the final and binding 2016 Award on the South China Sea Arbitration," he said.
Marcos noted that he appreciates the concrete manifestations of the U.S.’ and other partners’ support for the Philippines’ position, as he stressed that factual messaging in support of lawful exercise of rights under international law demonstrates the strength of the alliances.
But aside from those partnerships, he stressed the need to upgrade the Philippines’ defense and civilian law enforcement capabilities not only to defend itself but also to enable it to become a reliable partner in regional security.
Over the past week, he said both teams have been working on a bilateral planning and tracking mechanism that is expected to fast track concrete and substantial capability development investments and activities to meet the shared defense and security objectives over the next five years.
