South China Sea: Philippines taking ‘dangerous path’ with President Marcos Jnr’s anti-China moves, sister Imee says

Accepting defence and maritime security donations from foreign powers would be ‘the fuel to never-ending conflict’, Senator Imee Marcos said
‘Let’s not be hot-headed’, she said in response to her brother’s creation of a National Maritime Council, calling for reason to prevail over emotion

South China Sea

Jeoffrey Maitem

Published: 1:08pm, 3 Apr 2024

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Senator Imee Marcos, sister to President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, has voiced her disagreement with her brother’s recent efforts to counter China’s aggression in the South China Sea, saying that it’s leading the country down a “dangerous path”.

In response to a March 23 incident in the disputed waters in which three Philippine Navy sailors were injured after Chinese Coast Guard personnel fired water cannons at their vessel, Marcos Jnr signed an executive order creating a National Maritime Council (NMC) with a mandate to “strengthen the Philippines’ maritime security and maritime domain awareness”.

Under the directive, the Philippine president authorised the council to accept “donations, contributions, grants, bequests or gifts” from allies to improve maritime security.

Philippines prepared for ‘worst-case scenario’ as South China Sea tensions rise

But in a statement released on Monday, Senator Marcos referenced the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, describing defence and maritime security donations as “the fuel to never-ending conflict”.

The lawmaker, who chairs the Philippine Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, went on to warn that every action that may put Filipinos in danger is a “gross irresponsibility [that] must be avoided at all costs.”

“Let’s not be hasty, let’s not be hot-headed so that we can take care of the welfare of our people,” she said.

Senator Imee Marcos (left) with her brother, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, after he delivered his second state of the nation address at the Philippine House of Representatives in July last year. Photo: AP

“Emotion rather than reason has prevailed in our maritime conflict with China and is leading us down a dangerous path that will cost us more than just Filipino pride.”

General Andres Centino, whom Marcos Jnr appointed as chief of the NMC, rebuked the president’s sister, saying that allowing foreign aid to strengthen the country’s maritime defence would not equate to foreign intervention.

“This has been a practice even before the creation of the National Maritime Council,” Centino said, explaining that the central government had in the past received maritime security aid from other countries, including the United States, Britain, Australia and Japan.

“I don’t think it is foreign intervention. It would be more of acknowledging that we need the help of our partners and allies.”

Philippine General Andres Centino (left) with President Marcos Jnr and a US Army lieutenant colonel during the Philippines-US 38th Balikatan Exercises in Zambales province, north of Manila, in April last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

On March 23, three Philippine Navy sailors were injured when Chinese coastguard personnel fired water cannons at their vessels. Manila also accused the Chinese ships of conducting “dangerous” manoeuvres and blocking a civilian chartered resupply ship, the Unaizah May 4, at the Second Thomas Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, Manila’s name for the parts of the South China Sea that lie within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“We now see the execution of more dangerous manoeuvres and even the ramming of their boats against ours and more recently, the excessive use of water cannons at full force,” Centino said, noting that despite China’s actions, Manila would not use similar tactics.

“We don’t want to follow their ways. The other countries have actually criticised what they’re doing. We will not follow their lead of using illegal actions.”

Senator Marcos, however, reasoned that emotion rather than reason has prevailed in the country’s maritime conflict with China.

“To prevent yet another regional conflict, what we need instead are solutions for peace from those who claim to be our genuine allies,” she said.

01:02

Beijing accuses Manila of deliberately ramming Chinese coastguard ship in disputed waters

Voicing dissent

The president’s sister was not the only lawmaker to voice her disagreement. Congressman Pantaleon Alvarez has also been a vocal critic of the president’s handling of the issue and even called for Marcos Jnr’s immediate resignation.

Last week during Holy Week, the most sacred week in the Christian calendar, Alvarez proposed that the president leave office and make way for Vice-President Sara Duterte to de-escalate tensions with China.

“I will advise the president to reflect and meditate this Holy Week. If Jesus Christ himself made sacrifices for the people, maybe it is his turn to do the same by voluntarily resigning from his position and turn over the functions of the presidency to the duly elected vice-president,” he said.

Sara Duterte, former President Rodrigo Duterte’s popular daughter, has previously expressed sentiments echoing her father’s comparatively China-friendly foreign policy stance, although she has remained silent on President Marcos Jnr’s recent actions regarding the West Philippine Sea. The vice-president is also known to be a close friend and ally of Senator Imee Marcos.

Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte (centre) takes a selfie with supporters during a rally in Manila in January. The popular daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte has been touted as Marcos Jnr’s replacement should he heed calls to resign. Photo: EPA-EFE

Antonio J Montalvan II, a social anthropologist, public writer and university professor, told This Week in Asia that the Marcos government is serious about reversing Duterte’s policy of deference towards China, in part as an effort to improve his family’s image on the world stage.

“What could be the politics behind it? I think he is determined to deodorise the tarnished Marcos image. By being pro-United States, he removes the Duterte stigma but also becomes the darling of the Western world,” Montalvan II said.

On Tuesday, Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jnr urged the public not to lose sight of the fact that the main threat to the country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea was the Chinese government’s illegal activities.

“Let us not fall into the trap set by Chinese propaganda of refocusing the debate on a so-called promise while deflecting attention away from China’s government, thereby freeing and allowing them to continue with their illegal activities in our EEZ,” Teodoro said, referring to the alleged “gentleman’s agreement” between former President Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping to maintain the status quo in the South China Sea.

05:22

Why the South China Sea dispute remains one of the region’s most pressing issues

China has competing claims in the disputed water with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. In 2016, The Hague’s international tribunal dismissed China’s sweeping claims over the South China Sea – a ruling that Beijing rejected and ignored.

On Monday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with his Philippine counterpart, National Security Adviser Eduardo Año, and affirmed Washington’s commitment to its defence treaty with Manila.

“Mr. Sullivan underscored the ironclad US alliance commitments to the Philippines under the US-Philippines Mutual Defence Treaty, which extends to armed attacks on Philippine armed forces, public vessels, or aircraft – to include those of its coastguard – anywhere in the South China Sea,” said the readout published on the White House website.

Signed in 1951, the Mutual Defence Treaty calls on both countries to aid each other in times of aggression by an external power. The Pentagon previously said it was prepared to assist Manila if it invoked the treaty amid threats from other nations.