Marcos confident US will defend PH territory

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Wednesday expressed his confidence that the United States will defend the Philippines should it face security challenges, particularly in the West Philippine Sea.

Speaking to Indian news media “Firstpost,” Marcos was asked if he is convinced that the US would come to the Philippines' defense should it face a security challenge in the region.

“I am, because the assurance is that we have been receiving in those terms from the new [US] administration before I went there, and when I went there,” Marcos replied in reference to his recent official visit to Washington, D.C. last July where he met US President Donald Trump and senior defense officials.

Marcos also cited the Trump administration’s “ironclad commitment” to the Philippines amid the “dangerous” Chinese actions in the South China Sea.

“I believe that remains constant, and I’m not surprised because we really have had a very, very long history together with the US,” the President said.

“It has been a very long and very good relationship, and I think it will remain so. I'm sure it will remain so,” he added.

In July, Manila reiterated its call for China to comply with the nine-year-old arbitration ruling that nullified Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.

Marcos is currently in India on a five-day state visit.

Meanwhile, Marcos said the world will have to readjust to the new US tariff rates.

“That’s where it stands right now, and it is just something that we will have to adjust to and the effects on our economies are all about the same,” he surmised.

“The entire world economy is going to have to readjust itself. He reinvents himself in many ways,” he added.  

According to US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, the new US tariff rates are unlikely to change. 

Trump had announced a new 19% tariff rate for goods from the Philippines after he and Marcos had a meeting during the Philippine President’s US visit.

When asked for advice how to negotiate with the US, Marcos answered, “Just do your best” and be “smart about it.”

“We now need to be agile, our economies need to be agile. We need to be able to adjust very quickly,” the President said.

“That’s how we are structuring our economy: strong, robust, but agile, and it seems to be the most important quality right now,” he added. — RF, GMA Integrated News