Philippine president vows to defend territory, announces amnesty for rebels in key nationwide speech

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Philippines president (centre) during the State of the Nation Address in Manila, the Philippines, on Monday, July 24, 2023. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will lay down his priorities for the coming months on Monday, closing out his first year in power marked with policies throwing back to his father two-decade rule. - Bloomberg

MANILA, Philippines (AP): Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Monday underscored his administration’s resolve to defend the country’s territory through diplomacy in a key speech but did not mention China, with which it has had an escalating series of conflicts in the disputed South China Sea.

Marcos also announced in his state-of-the-nation speech to Congress that he would offer an amnesty to armed insurgents and would crack down on smugglers and hoarders of agricultural products, whom he blamed for steep spikes in food prices.