No means to drive away China monster ship - Marcos
Metro Manila, Philippines - Driving away China’s large coast guard ship in Philippine waters remains a significant challenge, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Thursday, Feb. 6.
"We don’t have the means na paalisin. Hindi naman – buti kung mayroon tayong aircraft carrier na may kasamang destroyer, frigate, at saka submarine na papupuntahin natin doon para matulak silang palayo. Wala naman tayong ganoon," said Marcos.
[Translation: We don’t have the means to drive it away. It would be nice if we had an aircraft carrier with accompanying destroyers, frigates, and submarines that we could send there to push them away. But we don’t have that.]
"Kung sa palakihan at paramihan lang ng barko, malayo tayo sa China. Pero ang policy naman natin is that we will just continue to defend our territorial, our sovereign territory and our territorial rights in the EEZ. ‘Yun lang," he added.
[Translation: it’s just about the size and number of ships, we’re far from China. But our policy is that we will continue to defend our territorial, sovereign territory, and our territorial rights in the exclusive economic zone. That’s it]
Marcos said the coast guard and navy will continue to protect the country’s territory.
"Ang iniisip namin, ano bang mission ng coast guard? Ano bang mission ng navy? To protect the territorial integrity of the Philippines. So, that’s what they will do. They will continue to do that no matter what any other foreign power does, that is what we will do," he said.
[Translation: What we think about is what is the mission of the coast guard? What is the mission of the navy? To protect the territorial integrity of the Philippines. So, that’s what they will do. They will continue to do that no matter what any other foreign power does. That is what we will do.]
No response on US Typhon Missile deal
Marcos also said China has yet to respond to his proposal to return the US Typhon missile system in exchange for Beijing stopping provocations in the West Philippine Sea.
"No, I didn’t expect them to, and they haven’t responded specifically. They have responded in general terms saying that what they do is a lawful exercise and law enforcement and all that," said Marcos.
"But no, nothing specific on the missiles, nothing specific about the reduction of tension, the reduction of the aggressive moves. Nothing like that. Wala kaming napag-usapan na ganoon [There was no such talk]," he added.
Marcos challenged China last week to stop its activities if it wants the Philippines to return the short-range missile system, which Beijing views as a potential threat to the region.
