Marcos says Philippines ‘resigned’ to managing South China Sea dispute

At the Forbes Global CEO Conference in Singapore, Marcos said: “I don’t know if we can find a resolution to the problem, but we are resigned to just being able to manage the problem, so that we do not have mistakes, we do not have misinterpretations.

“My greatest fear is that some seaman, some soldier, just makes a mistake, and that mistake turns into something that goes out of control.”

But the Philippine president reiterated Manila’s sovereign rights over the waterway, which he said were backed by international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

“We refer to it as the West Philippine Sea,” Marcos said before an audience of over 400 chief executives, entrepreneurs, and investors. “It’s been on the western side of the Philippines, you know, since time immemorial.”

Beijing has rejected a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling in The Hague, which found no legal basis for its claims in the South China Sea under its nine-dash line. China considers the ruling illegal and non-binding, while Manila relies on it to assert its maritime rights.

Tensions between the two nations have intensified in recent months. On Monday, Beijing accused Manila of violating its airspace near the disputed Scarborough Shoal, which China refers to as Huangyan Island. In response, the Philippine military said a Chinese fighter jet had interfered with a “routine military patrol”.

Chinese state media quoted a foreign ministry spokesman calling the Philippine flight a serious violation of Beijing’s sovereignty and jurisdiction and an attempt to undermine peace and stability in the waterway.

To de-escalate the regional flashpoint, China and the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations have held monthly meetings to discuss a long-awaited code of conduct, aiming to finalise the document by the end of the year.

Marcos acknowledged the delays that had plagued the finalisation of the code, but insisted he remained optimistic and that good progress was being made.

“Sometimes it’s a bit frustrating that just the definitions of ordinary words are becoming bones of contention,” Marcos said. “But we are determined to come to an agreement and to hopefully de-escalate the situation.”

Filipino fishermen have reportedly faced increasingly restricted access near Scarborough Shoal, a rich fishing ground effectively controlled by the Chinese coastguard since a 2012 stand-off.

During a meeting with Asean Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing was ready to work with Asean to fully implement the code, adding that peace and stability in the waterway benefit all countries in the region.

At the conference, which speaker line-up includes Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Singaporean counterpart Lawrence Wong, Marcos added that all Asean member states agreed the code was “absolutely necessary” to avoid difficulties and “incidents”.