From left to right: Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo, President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., and Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Teodoro, Jr. | Gabriel P. Lalu/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines–Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Saturday hailed a strategic victory for the Philippines after President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. garnered solid commitments from the United States and Japan to support the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The commitments were made at a trilateral meeting in Washington D.C. with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The leaders issued a Joint Vision Statement during the meeting, which expressed their opposition to aggressive actions by China’s Coast Guard and fishing militia in the West Philippine Sea.
They emphasized that the Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) lies within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone, as affirmed by the final and legally binding July 12, 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling, and called on China to comply with this ruling.
“President Marcos, Jr.’s steadfast leadership and diplomatic initiatives have significantly advanced our country’s national interests,” said Romualdez, leader of the more than 300-member House of Representatives.
He noted that the commitment of the US and Japan to aid the Philippines in defending its sovereignty underscores the strength of bilateral and multilateral partnerships in addressing complex security challenges.
Biden, in his opening statement at the meeting, reiterated the US’s defense obligations under the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT), saying that “any attack on Philippine aircraft, vessels, or Armed Forces in the South China Sea would invoke our Mutual Defense Treaty.”
The Joint Vision Statement also highlighted the leaders’ “serious concern” over China’s “repeated obstruction of Philippine vessels’ exercise of high seas freedom of navigation and the disruption of supply lines to Second Thomas Shoal, which constitute dangerous and destabilizing conduct.”
It opposed any unilateral actions by China to change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
This meeting followed a trilateral summit hosted by Biden, where he committed to defending the Philippines against any attacks in the South China Sea, amid ongoing confrontations between Chinese and Philippine vessels. The summit’s joint statement criticized Beijing’s “dangerous and aggressive” actions in the region.
China responded to the summit with criticism, accusing the involved countries of “manipulating bloc politics” and harming China’s strategic security and interests.
“We firmly oppose engaging in closed cliques that exclude others in the region,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
The Joint Vision Statement from the Washington meeting also outlined plans for enhancing trilateral defense cooperation and supporting the Philippine Coast Guard’s capacity building through Japan’s provision of additional vessels and planning joint maritime exercises with the US.