PBBM cites shared PH-US interests

By Charles Dantes

ENGAGEMENTS between the Philippines and the United States are anchored on the promotion of peace and the protection of national interest, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said.

Mr. Marcos made the statement during a courtesy call of members of the USASEAN Business Council at the Malacanang Palace on Wednesday.

The President likewise confirmed his attendance to the Asia Pacific Economic

Marcos:...

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“If there does exist such an agreement, I rescind that agreement now,” President Marcos said.

Earlier, National Security Council (NSC) Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said they are still puzzled by China’s claim.

In a Laging Handa briefing, Malaya said everyone they have talked with regarding the matter—from the present to past administrations—has no idea of an agreement with China to remove the BRP Sierra Madre.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri, meanwhile, said the BRP Sierra Madre should be refurbished not just to ward off bullies from the north, but also to protect the Marines stationed there from natural calamities.

He guaranteed the Senate would support funding for such an undertaking.

"They deserve our unconditional support as they sacrifice themselves for us," he said of the troops stationed on the grounded warship.

Beijing...

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It said it is rejecting any attempts to create disagreement among nations in the Indo-Pacific.

"China unequivocally rejects words and actions that aim to stoke tension and confrontation in the South China Sea," the embassy said.

"We urge the US to respect China’s territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, and respect regional countries' efforts to uphold peace and stability in this region," it added.

Since Sunday, Washington and its of-

PH,...

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“Experience has demonstrated that to effectively provide support to civilian disaster response agencies, it is extremely important that nations cooperate and improve joint capabilities,” it added.

The country's C-130 Hercules will also join other C130s from the US Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Royal Ma-

Panelo:...

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He is a former president. He is enjoying his retirement. Let us leave him alone,” Panelo said.

“Even if he (Duterte) is not being told to do so, he is doing his part. His (recent) visit to China expands and deepens (our) relationship with China,” he added.

Duterte last month flew to China to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping "as old friends."

Xi asked Duterte to continue promoting "friendly cooperation" between the two countries.

Despite the high-level meeting, China ramped up its incursions in the West Philippine Sea.

Chinese vessels used water cannons and dangerous maneuvers against Phil-

Gov‘t...

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The debt-to-GDP ratio is the metric comparing a country's public debt to its GDP. By comparing what a country owes with what it produces, the debt-toGDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country's ability to pay back its debts.

The country’s sovereign debt grew to a new record of P14.15 trillion at the end of June, data from the Bureau of Treasury shows.

Since becoming President last year, Marcos has added P1.36 trillion to the national debt.

“We’re doing better than our neighbors perhaps but nonetheless, it's still something that we need to be looking at,” he said.

Marcos said he also “worries about the constriction of the economy by very high interest rates.”

Cooperation (APEC) Leaders' Meeting in the United States in November.

“With the US, our engagements are now grounded on a two-pronged, very simple foreign policy approach and that is the promotion of peace and of course the protec-

Senator Risa Hontiveros said she would support funding for such an effort too and said she would ensure that it is included in the 2024 national budget. She also denounced China’s demand that the Philippines remove the ship.

"We will never allow anyone to forcibly take that vessel out of our own waters," Hontiveros said, saying that Chinese arrogance was the cause of “deep instability” in the region.

In the latest incident, Chinese Coast Guard ships fired water cannons at Filipino boats that were resupplying the troops on Ayungin Shoal.

In the face of widespread Philippine and international condemnation for its recent actions, China has not apologized, but doubled down onits illegal claims to sovereignty over the shoal, referring once again to its nine-dash line claim that the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated in 2016.

But Hontiveros said countries must analyze everything that comes out of China’s mouth, saying it is full of lies and manipulation.

"How can we negotiate with Beijing when she acts in bad faith? " she said.

The Philippine military deliberately grounded the BRP Sierra Madre on ficials had been expressing support for the Philippines following the water cannon attack by the Chinese Coast Guard near Ayungin Shoal. The US said China's action threatened regional peace and stability.

The US also reaffirmed its commitment to the country that an armed attack against Philippine vessels in the water would invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III assured his Philippine counterpart, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, of Washington’s commitment to support the country’s troops and to redouble the country’s training and interoperability following China’s latest aggressive ac- laysian Air Force, and Indonesian Air Force for flight training.

Aside from the Philippines and the US, participants will come from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Timor-Leste.

The exercises will also cover HADR airlift operations and logistical planning for aircraft deployment staging; cargo and movement mission planning; and multinational airlift capability analysis for airlift mission schedule prioritization.

The Philippines and the United States will lead participating air forces from ippine vessels on a resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal.

Panelo suggested a “new tack” in handling the WPS issue as he questioned a Senate resolution that suggests, among others, raising China's illegal acts before the UN General Assembly.

He said friendly cooperation can instead be done, such as joint coast guard patrols, joint fishery efforts, and even joint development of the disputed territory.

Meanwhile, National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said on Wednesday the exchange program that sends military officers to study in China will be discussed in a meeting of the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea.

"The position of the Senate on this is that it would be better if we stop sending them to China as a result of the incident in Ayungin Shoal," he said.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has so far raised its benchmark rate to 6.25 percent from a record low of 2 percent last year, as it tries to curb inflation, which hit a 14-year high in January.

“This is something that we have to balance,” Marcos said.

Despite these, the President said the Philippines continues to register positive economic numbers.

“I am happy to report that the Philippines is on track not only for economic recovery but to achieving an upper-middle economic status within a couple of years,” he said.

“Despite global economic headwinds, our GDP post-pandemic defied predictions through sound economic and fiscal policies, responsive reforms, and an enabling economic environment that drove commerce and domestic consumption,” he said. (See full story online at manilastandard.net) tion of the national interest," he said.

"By shoring up our individual and collective capabilities, we are able to advance our countries’ as well as the IndoPacific Region’s security, stability, and economic prosperity.” tion in the South China Sea.

"The evolution of geopolitics and the global economy have lumped all of these elements [defense, security, and economic spheres] together, we cannot approach any of these elements separately without seeing the effects that one has on the other," he added.

The US-ASEAN Business Council, for its part, pledged to pursue more investments in the Philippines.

Second Thomas Shoal in the late 1990s in an effort to check the advance of China in the hotly contested waters.

The unorthodox tactic to establish the Philippine presence on the shoal was in response to China's illegal occupation of the nearby and then-uninhabited Mischief Reef, also claimed by Manila, a few years earlier.

Beijing has turned Mischief Reef and other reefs and outcrops into artificial, militarized islands to assert its claims in the waters.

Ayungin Shoal, located in the Spratly Islands, is about 200 kilometers west of the western Philippine island of Palawan and more than 1,000 kilometers from China's nearest major landmass of Hainan Island.

The Palawan provincial board on Wednesday denounced the firing of water cannons by the Chinese Coast Guard against Philippine vessels going to Ayungin Shoal for a resupply mission.

A board member, Juan Antonio Alvarez, said the CCG move was unacceptable and was a clear form of harassment.

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, which includes Ayungin Shoal, and deploys hundreds of vessels there to patrol the waters and swarm reefs.

In a readout provided by the Pentagon, Austin assured Teodoro of the US government’s support for the Philippine military and redoubling of both countries training and interoperability after the two defense officials discussed the recent water cannon attack.

"The secretaries discussed recent events in the South China Sea, including PRC efforts to obstruct the Philippine resupply mission to Second Thomas Shoal on Aug. 5, 2023," the Pentagon said.

"Secretary Austin condemned the China Coast Guard's use of water cannons and other dangerous maneuvers, which put the safety of Philippine vessels and crew at risk," it added.

14 countries during the Pacific Airlift Rally 2023, a biennial exercise that will run from Aug. 14 to 18 in military bases across Luzon and Visayas.

The activities will be held at Clark Air Base in Mabalacat, Pampanga; Colonel Jesus Villamor Air Base in Pasay City; and Brigadier General Benito Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.

The event was previously held in Lombok Island, Indonesia last September 2021.

In a statement, the Philippine Air Force said the activity would cover airborne training exercises, airlift operations, and

Council president and chief executive officer Ted Osius said: “We’re very much focused and you highlight these themes on sustainable development, transformative digitalization, innovative healthcare solutions, supply chain resilience, and ease of doing business.”

“We are determined that we come here not just to talk but also to bring a lot of action to create real partnerships and to show our commitment in the form of investments,” he added.

Osius was joined by representatives of 30 companies – the largest delegation to visit the Philippines in the 40-year history of US-ASEAN Business Council.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

Manila says China's coast guard and navy vessels routinely block or shadow Philippine ships patrolling the waters.

They also regularly attempt to disrupt re-supply operations to the tiny Philippine garrison on Ayungin Shoal, according to Manila.

The handful of Philippine Marines deployed on the BRP Sierra Madre depend upon those resupply missions to survive their remote assignment.

The Philippine Coast Guard fears China will seek to occupy Ayungin Shoal if the military detachment leaves.

The South China Sea is seen as a powder keg and many fear a miscalculation or accident could ignite a military conflict.

The Philippines is poorly armed, but the United States has said it would defend its longtime ally in the South China Sea under a decades-old mutual defense pact.

The US has no territorial claim over the waters, but has persisted in conducting its own patrols there, angering Beijing.

Washington says this is to ensure what it terms "freedom of navigation" in the sea, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually. With AFP logistical planning table-top exercises that will focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations.

Austin also joined a number of countries that are already concerned about China's activities in the waters, which undermine the status quo.

China's neighbors, Japan and South Korea, as well as other nations, such as New Zealand, Australia, France, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union, deplored the recent incident.

Teodoro and Austin also brought up the Mutual Defense Treaty during their discussion as they vowed to uphold rules-based order. The US said it would continue supporting the Philippines' right to conduct lawful maritime activities, consistent with the 2016 Arbitral Tribunal ruling.

“The Indo-Asia-Pacific region is home to 60 percent of the world’s population in 45 nations spread across 53 percent of the Earth’s surface, and the majority of the world’s natural disasters occur in this area,” the PAF said.

“Experience has demonstrated that to effectively provide support to civilian disaster response agencies, it is extremely important that nations cooperate and improve joint capabilities,” it added. (See full story online at manilastandard.net)