The Southeast Asian nation should prepare for a “more pronounced” external threat, the president said in an announcement issued Tuesday by his communications office.
The external threat has now develop into more clear, more worrying, and that’s the reason we must prepare
“The external threat has now become clearer, more worrisome, and that is why we must prepare,” Marcos said, without specifying.
The Philippines didn’t try to redraw the boundaries of its sovereign territory, including its exclusive economic zone, and the country was committed to defense by engaging in diplomatic activities, he added.
The Chinese embassy in Manila didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Manila said on Saturday it could proceed to take care of and provide its facilities within the South China Sea without requiring permission from some other country, rejecting Beijing’s demand as “absurd, nonsensical and unacceptable.”
The Philippines has a long-standing territorial dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, through which greater than $3 trillion in annual ship trade passes.
Additional reporting by Reuters
