Marcos: Despite external threats, PH not waging any war

President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. said Thursday that the Philippines "will not wage any war" despite "external threats" facing the country.

Marcos made the statement in front of troops in the Davao Region during his visit to the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division.

“Now, I am sure that all of you are aware now that the internal threat has been reduced. We now have to also think about the external threat and that again is a different strategy that we will have to employ,” said Marcos. 

“Hindi naman tayo nakikipag-giyera kahit na kanino. Wala naman tayong gustong pasukin. Tayo ay defensive lang naman tayo at dinedepensahan lang natin ang bansa natin," added Macos. 

(We will not wage any war. We are just in a defensive posture and we are just defending our country.)

"Kaya’t ‘yan ang ating bagong threat na hinaharap ngunit kagaya ng sabi ko, kung nagawa ninyo ito dahil sa internal threat, ako’y malakas ang loob ko na kaya rin ninyong gawin pagka-dumating sa tinatawag na external threat," he added. 

(That's the new threat that we are facing, but just like what I said, if you were able to win over internal threats, I'm confident that you can also do that whenever the external threat comes.) 

Marcos ensured that the government and the military commanders are ''doing all that we can to make sure that our men and women [in the military] are completely capacitated.''

He said the Philippine military has to transition so it can continue performing its mandate to promote the safety of the people and the security of Philippine territory against emerging threats. 

The President also urged the soldiers to be peacekeepers by encouraging communist insurgents to return to the fold of the law. --VAL, GMA Integrated News