Marcos: We won’t respond

PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos said the Philippines would not respond in kind to China’s deployment of water cannon against its vessels, ruling out the use of “offensive” equipment as Manila asserts its sovereignty in the disputed South China Sea.

Beijing has dispatched hundreds of coast guard and other vessels to press its claims over most of the vital waterway despite an international tribunal ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.In the latest confrontation on April 30, Manila said the China Coast Guard damaged a Philippine Coast Guard ship and another government vessel with high-pressure water cannon as the boats were bringing fuel, food and water to Filipino fishermen at Scarborough Shoal.