Marcos hopes to ease WPS tensions through Task Force Philippines

BUSAN, South Korea - President Ferdinand ''Bongbong'' Marcos Jr. on Saturday expressed hope that the new joint task force between the Philippines and the United States would lower tensions in the West Philippine Sea. 

Task Force Philippines will ensure the protection of the freedom of navigation in the region, Marcos told the Philippine media delegation at the conclusion of his participation in the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit.

''I hope it will lower the tensions in West Philippine Sea...'' Marcos said when asked if he sees this as a mechanism to tackle the aggressive actions of China in the resource-rich region. 

''It will certainly not heighten them [tensions] because it's not something new. Wala namang bagong ginagawa. Nagkaka-heightening lang of tension kapag may sumubok ng bago. Dati hindi ginagawa, bigla na lang gagawin. 'Yun, magkaka-tension,'' he added.

(Nothing new is being done. There's a heightening of tension when someone tries something new. Something that wasn't done before, suddenly they're doing it. That creates tension.)

Marcos said the task force is basically ''organizing ourselves into a more cohesive unit in terms of the protection of the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the West Philippine Sea for us."

He said the task force has to establish procedures in order to operate smoothly. 

''The difference is because the vessels are different. So, you know, may carrier group, mayroong tayo rin, mayroong silang ano, so we have to work, we have to learn how to work with a different set of parameters, military parameters."

(The difference is because the vessels are different. So, you know, there is a carrier group, we also have this, they have what, so we have to work, we have to learn how to work with a different set of parameters, military parameters.)

Task Force Philippines "will increase operational cooperation, improve combined planning, and enhance interoperability, particularly in the South China Sea," according to a statement from Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.

Pentagon's announcement of the formation of the task force came following a meeting between US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. at a gathering of ASEAN defense ministers in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

Beijing has aggressively asserted sovereignty over most of the South China Sea and accused smaller claimant states, such as the Philippines, of intruding into its territories.

The Chinese Coast Guard, Navy, and suspected maritime militia ships have used high-pressure water cannons and dangerous maritime maneuvers on Philippine ships or vessels China has accused of entering its territorial waters illegally.

Western and regional powers led by Philippine ally, the US, have frequently denounced China for its coercive and illegal actions in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea that is nearest to the Philippine archipelago.

Beijing does not recognize the 2016 decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands, that invalidated China’s sweeping claims to the South China Sea.  —VBL, GMA Integrated News