Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 8) — The Marcos administration will remain firm in its “neutral” foreign policy as the Philippines won’t take sides with foreign powers like the United States, but it is also not shifting away from China.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned this during his meeting with Filipino ambassadors in Malacañan Palace on Wednesday, where he urged them to secure more partnerships that could pump up the country’s economic recovery amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We do not subscribe to any notion of a bipolar world. We only side, of course, to the Philippines, not to the US, not to Beijing, not to Moscow,” Marcos said.
“That’s very much being independent in what we do,” he added.
In January, Marcos expressed a similar sentiment during a dialogue with World Economic Forum officials, stressing that he only “promotes the national interest” of the Philippines.
READ: Marcos on PH foreign policy: I don’t work for Beijing and Washington
Despite acknowledging the intimidation by Chinese forces in the West Philippine Sea, Marcos said that disengagement with China was “not really an option.”
Marcos, however, said during his meeting with US President Joe Biden early in May that “it is only natural…for the Philippines to look to its sole treaty partner in the world” amid rising conflicts in the South China Sea and Taiwan.
The Philippine president also directed his ambassadors to look for “non-traditional” partners in trade, security, and defense.
“We are constantly now—after all the changes that have been imposed upon us, like the pandemic economy and the world situation—looking for what we sometimes referred to as non-traditional partners in trades, in any kind, in security and defense issues. All these things, we are always looking for partners,” he said.
“I’m sure you have heard that we are prioritizing agriculture, energy, all of the infrastructure development, and digitalization. Now, if there are opportunities that would come up, you should explore them and if they’re promising enough, then we’ll take it up. We’ll try to see if something can come up. There’s no harm in trying… at least we tried,” he added.
The president also said the Philippines is not shifting away from China despite Beijing’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea, and stronger defense ties between Manila and Washington.
“Some people have said the Philippines has shifted its policy away from the People’s Republic and to other powers. That is certainly not true. We have not shifted away from China in any way whatsoever,” Marcos told the media on Thursday.
He stressed that the ties should not be defined by the “differences” between the two nations.
