Marcos: PH acting for own interest, not US, in South China Sea

MELBOURNE—President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Monday said the United States has nothing to do with its decisions when it comes to issues in the West Philippine Sea, noting that the country ''acts for its own interest.''

''I always wanted to make it clear, because there is a narrative out there that is going around that we are at the beck and call, practically, of the United States when it comes to these foreign policy decisions, especially surrounding the South China Sea. But let me make it very, very clear,'' Marcos said before the Lowy Institute.

''The Philippines acts for its own interest, and the decisions that we make when it comes to foreign policy are decisions that we make because we believe, and are convinced, and know that it is in the national interest,'' he added. 

Marcos said the US serves as a stabilizing force for the Philippines. 

''And it still manages to be a force for the good. We need for it to continue to be a force for the good, we cannot allow it to overtake, as I said in my remarks, to overtake what the essential priorities of the Philippines,'' Marcos said. 

He said the present situation really goes back to ''a rejection by the Philippines of a regression into the old bipolar cold war formula.''

''Wherein the smaller countries such as the Philippines were basically forced into choosing, you choose to be with the United States, so with the Soviet Union. And in a way it is a simpler time and it was easier perhaps for countries to make that decision. That is no longer relevant. That no longer applies,'' Marcos said. 

''The world has turned very, very many times since then and we define our foreign policy really very simply,'' he added.

Marcos said the Philippines' foreign policy is grounded and anchored on the continued promotion and work for peace as well as on the continued promotion and work for the national interest of the country. —NB, GMA Integrated News