Manila speaks with 2 voices on China

Manila sent two strikingly different messages to Beijing on October 13. At the Malacanang Palace, a presidential spokeswoman reaffirmed Manila’s commitment to sustaining diplomatic and economic ties with China, saying “China needs the Philippines, and the Philippines needs China”.

That same day, Philippine Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr rejected a call for military-to-military communication with China, a move that received public support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Teodoro said the policy was not new and that “the proper communications flow is through the Department of Foreign Affairs, not through us”.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr has defended the contrasting messages over China. He argues there is no contradiction between them, insisting that the diplomatic and defence arms of his administration are working towards the same objective through different approaches.