‘I don’t work for US, China; I work for Philippines’

SINGAPORE – Emphasizing his administration’s adherence to rules-based order, President Marcos told Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonyte of the challenges  the Philippines has to tackle, with help from other countries but without being subservient to any of them.

“I don’t work for Beijing, I don’t work for Washington, I don’t work for Moscow. I work for Manila. I work for the Philippines,” President Marcos said in his brief talks with Šimonyte on the sidelines of the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue here.

Šimonyte, for her part, expressed her support for the Philippines’ call for international rules-based order to maintain peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Philippines and China are at odds over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), while Lithuania has the same with Russia.

“Over a hundred of years that we have been in contact in informal trade that has been going on. It’s still not balanced…all we want really, is the promotion of peace and the national interest,” Marcos told Šimonyte.

“And the only way that we can navigate through all of these is to find ourselves, plant ourselves very clearly within international law, and within the rules-based order, within the agreements that most nations are made, with one another when it comes to the resolution of these kind of differences,” Marcos added.

He noted that some countries have made alliances with other nations, so together they can provide a stronger voice in support of law and sovereignty.

“Absolutely. I think that, you know, small states matter. That will be my message tomorrow on the panel but not only small states matter, international law matters because this is a safety network for small states,” the Lithuanian prime minister said in response.

Marcos stressed that the Philippines only promotes what is based on international law.

He said the world has changed in a way that you can no longer isolate the effects of war in Russia from other parts of the world.

“It’s almost impossible but now it is now regional issues, they eventually impact the unexpected places which are very, very far away,” the President said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Martin Romualdez said more nations are expected to join in the call for “rule-based order” in the West Philippine Sea as a result of Marcos’s “historic address” at the Shangri-La Dialogue.

The President’s message would “galvanize international community support for the Philippines’ vision for a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Romualdez said.

“The President delivered a clear, compelling and rational articulation of our country’s legal and geopolitical position, particularly in the WPS,” he pointed out.

Marcos was the first Philippine president to deliver a keynote message to Asia’s premier defense forum. He emphasized the country’s “unwavering commitment to peace, sovereignty, and the rule of law.”

Romualdez also reiterated government’s assurance of protection of Filipinos against Chinese bullying and harassment.

“We will use all the powers we have to keep them safe,” he maintained.

The Speaker made the assurance after fisherfolk from Masinloc and Sta. Cruz in Zambales expressed their concerns over the escalation of tension in WPS during a public consultation meeting of House committee on national defense and security and special committee on WPS recently. — Sheila Crisostomo