Marcos: AFP mission changed amid South China Sea problem, rivalry between powers

The mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has changed amid the complicated situation in the South China Sea and the intense competition of superpowers, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday.

In his talk to the troops before the Visayas Command in Cebu, Marcos said the South China Sea problem was the most difficult and complex issue even with the war in Ukraine.

"Kaya’t sinasabi ko ‘yung mission ng AFP, ‘yung mission ninyo ay nagbago na. At kailangan natin bantayan nang mabuti ‘yung ating dating hindi kailangan masyadong isipin," Marcos said.

(This is why I'm saying the mission of the AFP has changed. We now have to keep watch over matters which before we didn't have to think much about.)

"There was a time when we did not have to worry about these threats and the intensification of the competition between the superpowers," Marcos said.

"For many, many years, we were able to maintain that peace and maintain that understanding with all of our neighbors. Now things have begun to change and we must adjust accordingly," he added.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in Davos in late January, Marcos said the Philippines was working to avoid being caught in the middle of the two competing world powers, the US and China.

He was quoted as saying that the Philippines was increasing its cooperation with the US while developing mechanisms to ease the tension with China amid geopolitical issues in the Asia Pacific.

Marcos mentioned a proverb as regards grass getting trampled while elephants fight.

“We are the grass in this situation. We don’t want to get trampled,” Marcos said.

Marcos previously said that the tension in the disputed South China Sea kept him up at night.

Manila and Beijing are at odds over the South China Sea, with the latter claiming sovereignty over almost the entire area despite an international court ruling saying that its claims had no legal basis.

Among the latest "concerning" incidents in the region was the China Coast Guard's action of pointing a military grade laser at a vessel of the Philippine Coast Guard, which caused temporary blindness on the crewmembers of the BRP Malapascua.

Beijing denied the accounts of the PCG, but this did not stop the Philippine government from lodging a diplomatic protest over the incident.

Marcos told the troops that the country's foreign policy is "guided by a commitment to peace and guided by the national interest."

"Pagka ako’y bumabiyahe at ipinapaliwanag ko sa ating mga kaibigan kung ano ang ating foreign policy, kung papaano ang trato natin sa mga ibang bansa ay madaling-madali lang ang sagot ko," Marcos said.

"Ang lagi kong sinasagot ay ang Pilipinas ang habol lang ng Pilipinas ay ang kapayapaan," he added.

(Whenever I travel and I explain to our friends how our foreign policy is, it's quite easy when asked how we treat other countries. I always answer that the Philippines is only after peace.)

Marcos also said even though the Philippines was only a small country, it needed to assert its rights as a sovereign nation.

"The Philippines is a sovereign nation, the Philippines has a functioning government, and that functioning government includes the members of the military, and that is why it remains to be our duty to protect the country, to protect our citizens," Marcos said. —NB, GMA Integrated News