President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reaffirmed the Philippines' commitment to defending its sovereign territory in the West Philippine Sea, despite the continued presence of Chinese Coast Guard vessels, including the so-called 'monster ship,' near the disputed Scarborough Shoal. Marcos stated that he has yet to receive a specific response from China regarding his earlier statement that the Philippines would only return US-deployed typhoon missiles if China ceased its aggressive actions in the region.
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. stated on Thursday that he has yet to receive a response from China regarding his announcement that he would only return the typhoon missiles deployed by the United States in the northern part of the country if China ceased its aggressive maneuvers in the West Philippine Sea. \'No.
I don't expect them to either,' Marcos said during a press conference at Malacañang when asked if he or his office had received a reaction or comment from Beijing concerning his previous remarks. 'They responded in general terms, saying what they do is a lawful exercise of the authority of law enforcement.' \But no. Nothing specific on the missiles, nothing specific about the reduction of tension, and the reduction of aggressive moves, nothing like that. We haven't talked about that,' he added. Meanwhile, amidst the continued presence of the China Coast Guard's 'monster ship' still at the east of Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, the President insisted that the Philippine government would 'continue to defend our sovereign territory and our territorial rights in the EEZ (exclusive economic zone)'. This, despite the country being at a disadvantage when it comes to possessing more advanced and larger naval assets. 'Well, we don't have the means to make them leave. We don't have an aircraft carrier equipped with destroyers, a frigate, and submarines. If we are to talk about having bigger and more ships, we are lagging way behind China,' lamented the chief executive. 'What is the mission of the (Philippine) Coast Guard? What is the mission of the Navy? To protect the territorial integrity of the Philippines. So, that's what they will do -- they will continue to do that. No matter what any other foreign power does, that is what we will do. When we detect the presence of a foreign vessel who is beginning to intrude or coming close already to our coastal waters, we will send our ship. We will challenge them, and we will make sure that they know that what they are doing is illegal,' he added. Marcos further stated that Philippine forces would continue to patrol and monitor territorial waters 'even if they collide with our ship, even if they use a water cannon, even if they block us.' 'Our presence will always be there. We will always be there protecting our territory. We will always be there making sure our fishermen are able to exercise their sovereign rights. That's our mission,' he stressed. The Philippines earlier this week conducted joint air and sea patrols with Australia, Japan, and the United States over the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal. The exercises focused on enhancing operational coordination, improving air domain awareness and reinforcing agile combat employment capabilities between the ally countries, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) noted
WEST PHILIPPINE SEA CHINA PRESIDENT MARCOS TERRITORIAL DISPUTE SCARBOROUGH SHOAL FOREIGN RELATIONS PHILIPPINE COAST GUARD NAVY US ALLIANCE
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