MANILA (dpa): The Philippines will not back down from asserting its rights in the disputed South China Sea, despite reaching a deal with Beijing to avoid confrontations in the area, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said Monday.
"The Philippines cannot yield. The Philippines cannot waver,” Marcos said to thunderous applause and a standing ovation during his annual state of the nation address before Congress.
"The West Philippine Sea is not just a figment of our imagination,” he said, referring to the area by its local name. "It is ours. And it will remain ours, as long as the spirit of our beloved country the Philippines burns.”
Marcos’ statement came a day after the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs announced that Manila and Beijing agreed on a "provisional arrangement” on how the Philippines can send supplies to its troops at the BRP Sierra Madre in Second Thomas Shoal, locally called Ayungin Shoal.
No details have been released, but the department stressed that the deal aid not compromise national positions.
China has been aggressively blocking the Philippines’ resupply missions to the shoal, which lies 195 kilometres west of the Philippine province of Palawan and is within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines ran aground the BRP Sierra Madre, a dilapidated navy ship, in the shoal in 1999 to mark the country's claim to the area. Philippine troops are stationed at the rusting wreck.
In his speech, Marcos also announced a ban on all offshore gambling operations in the Philippines, many of which are run by Chinese firms, amid their alleged links to criminal syndicates involved in scams, money laundering, prostitution and even murder.
"Effective today, all POGOs (Philippine offshore gambling operations) are banned,” he said, prompting another standing ovation and chanting of his nickname "BBM, BBM, BBM!”
"Disguising as legitimate entities, their operations have ventured into illicit areas furthest from gaming such as financial scamming, money laundering, prostitution, human trafficking, kidnapping, brutal torture, even murder,” he said. "The grave abuse and disrespect to our system of laws must stop.”
Security officials have warned that illegal POGOs were a national threat because criminal syndicates were using them as fronts. Some have also expressed concern that the Chinese were using POGOs to shore up their presence in the Philippines amid the tensions in the South China Sea.
An estimated 300 offshore gambling firms are operating without a license in the Philippines, according to the government’s gaming regulator. That is more than six times the number of legitimate gaming operators in the country, which is 46. - dpa
