Philippines -US partnership kailangan sa tensiyon sa West Philippine Sea - PBBM

MANILA, Philippines — Binigyang-diin ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. nitong Lunes na kailangan ng pakikipagtulungan sa Amerika sa umiigting na tensyon sa West Philippine Sea.

“The United States is our, I would say, our oldest and most traditional partner and that has been in ­various forms, ongoing over a hundred years. And I think, it serves as well to remember that the United States is the Philippines’ only treaty partner,” pahayag ni Marcos sa roundtable meeting sa Daniel L. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies sa Honolulu, Hawaii.

Pero sinabi rin ni Marcos na nakikipag-partner din ang Pilipinas sa ibang kaalyadong bansa upang magkaroon ng resolusyon sa problema at mapanatili ang kapayapaan.

“The heightening tension in the West Philippine Sea, as we have named it, — it is generally known as the South China Sea — the increasing tensions in the South China Sea requires that we partner with our allies and our friends around the world, so as to come to some kind of resolution and to maintain the peace,” dagdag niya.

Aminado rin si Marcos na hindi masasabing bumubuti ang sitwasyon dahil mas lumalala pa ito.

“Unfortunately, I cannot report that the situation is improving. The situation has become more dire than it was before,” ani Marcos.

Pero nanindigan si Marcos na hindi ipauubaya ng Pilipinas kahit isang pulgada ng teritoryo nito sa anumang foreign power.

“I have said it before and I will say it again, the Philippines will not give a single square inch of our territory [to] any foreign power,” giit ni Marcos.

Binigyang-diin ng Pangulo na malinaw ang batas na nakasaad sa United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at sa desisyon ng international arbitral court na pumabor sa Pilipinas.

Pinasalamatan din ni Marcos ang gobyerno ng Amerika at iba pang bansa na nagpahayag ng suporta sa posisyon ng Pilipinas sa WPS.

Samantala, nakatakdang bumalik ang Pangulo sa Pilipinas Lunes ng gabi mula sa US.