Marcos resolute amid ‘David-Goliath’ dispute

Raises ‘great alarm’ over China’s dangerous sea maneuvers

President Marcos on Wednesday likened the country’s maritime dispute with China to the Biblical account of David and Goliath —and one where David eventually emerged victorious.

“That is a David and Goliath situation,” he said in an interview with TV station ABC in Australia.

“I also remind them, David won.”

China Coast Guard vessels earlier this week caused two collisions with Philippine boats and water cannoned one of them, leaving four crew injured during a resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.

In Melbourne, Southeast Asian and Australian leaders on Wednesday warned against actions that “endanger peace” in the South China Sea, following fresh confrontations between Beijing and Manila.

“We encourage all countries to avoid any unilateral actions that endanger peace, security, and stability in the region,” read a joint declaration hammered out between ASEAN members and Australia.

Mr. Marcos noted countries “cannot decide to change their territorial area unilaterally” as he said the Philippines filed a diplomatic protest against China’s provocative actions.

“That is an idea we had rejected a long time ago, but we are seeing (it again),” he said.

“We continue to view with great alarm these continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard. And this time, they damaged the cargo ship and caused some injury to some of our seamen, and I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” the President said in a separate video message.

Speaker Martin Romualdez, who accompanied Mr. Marcos in Australia, said: “At a time of escalating tensions and provocative actions by China, President Marcos’s call for adherence to a rules-based order and peaceful resolution of disputes is both timely and crucial. It reaffirms our nation’s commitment to promoting stability and security in the region through dialogue and cooperation.”

“President Marcos can count on the unwavering commitment of the House of Representatives in support of his initiatives to preserve peace and stability in the region and his courageous stance in defense of our country’s territory and sovereignty,” Romualdez added.

In the diplomatic note served to Deputy Chief of Mission Zhou Zhiyong of the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs demanded all Chinese vessels to immediately leave the shoal’s vicinity.

Ayungin is 105.77 nautical miles from the nearest Philippine province of Palawan and constitutes part of the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone and continental shelf as provided under a United Nations convention.

“Ayungin Shoal is a low-tide elevation within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and continental shelf,” the DFA told the summoned Chinese diplomat.

Beijing, on the other hand, accused the United States of using the Philippines as a “pawn to stir up trouble in the South China Sea” as hostilities between the Asian nations escalated.

China said it only “took control measures” against Philippine ships’ “illegal intrusion” into waters it claims, as well as accusing a Philippine ship of “intentionally” ramming a Chinese one.

“China urges the United States not to use the Philippines as a pawn to stir up trouble in the South China Sea,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters when asked about the United States’ condemnation of China’s actions as “provocative.”

“The Philippines should not let itself be at the mercy of the United States,” she added.

China claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its own, ignoring legal precedents and competing claims from a host of Southeast Asian nations.

The festering dispute posed one of the region’s most vexing security challenges, looming large during a three-day summit between Australia and the 10-nation ASEAN bloc.

Close United States ally Australia has proven increasingly willing to speak out against China.

“I am very concerned, and Australia is concerned about any unsafe and destabilizing behavior in the South China Sea,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on the summit’s sidelines.

“We need to make sure that activity in the South China Sea alleviates any tensions and doesn’t add to it,” he added.

In Manila, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. slammed China’s “propaganda mechanism” to justify their illegal acts in the West Philippine Sea.

House Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II underscored the urgent need for the government to allocate sufficient funds in the 2025 national budget to bolster the country’s capacity to safeguard the WPS.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said the administration should hasten the filing of a resolution before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that calls on China to stop its rampant harassment of Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea.

“At what point can we consider this to be unlawful aggression, as understood under international law? Raising this issue to the UN organ may be a way to give Chinese vessels pause before they attack our citizens,” the senator said.

— Charles Dantes, Rey E. Requejo, Vince Lopez, Maricel Cruz & Macon Ramos-Araneta