Foreign policy experts are detecting signs of steady relations between the Philippines and the US under the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. who is seen veering away from his predecessor’s conciliatory stance toward Beijing. READ:
However, some experts said the Philippines’ foreign policy towards China and other rising powers remains vague, noting that it should be among the top concerns of the national security sector.
Mr. Manhit said a return to US-Philippines relations at a level before former President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s administration is being driven by Mr. Marcos’ “view of the multipolar world” and not a “competition between China and the US that Duterte got drawn in.” This is the position the Philippines and its American partners “have promoted,” said Mr. Marcos, who said US-Philippines ties could keep tensions in the region at bay.
“That is much appreciated by all the countries in the regions and the Philippines especially,” he said. Mr. Garcia said Beijing’s concern is the extent to which the Philippines is willing to compromise and negotiate, while the US is concerned with the level of Philippines’ commitment to asserting its territories in the South China Sea “and the extent to which we’re willing to ally with them.”
“Will the Department of Foreign Affairs under Marcos Jr. and other relevant agencies recalibrate our trade and IR“Sometimes the conversation here is not just the individual will of the President, but more his economic managers and business allies,” Mr. Juliano noted. “It has been the case with Duterte and Marcos, and even to a lesser extent Arroyo and Aquino III.”
In terms of economic policy, maintaining the Philippines relationship with mainland China is “weightier,” Mr. Juliano said. “However, there has been more consistent cultural and economic ties with the Philippines by virtue of our shared American alliance.” “The ongoing conflict between China and Taiwan poses a risk to the Philippines and the rest of the region,” Mr. Manhit said. “This should be viewed as a part of a more complex and multifaceted geopolitical landscape that the Philippines should navigate.”