Marcos says RORE deal with China won't weaken Philippines' position in WPS

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Friday stood firm that the provisional understanding of the country with China on the rotation and resupply (RORE) missions to the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal does not weaken the Philippines' stand in terms of exercising sovereign rights and defending the territory.

During the presidential luncheon hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP), Marcos said discussions on the RORE deal with China "focused on the wrong thing."

"These arrangements that we make are to prevent any kind of miscalculation or mistake that might lead to even greater attention and hopefully, not conflict. And that's what we are trying to avoid, and that's why we make these arrangements," he said.

The President said it is important to continue resupplying Filipinos who are still on the BRP Sierra Madre—a vessel that has been grounded at Ayungin Shoal since 1999 and serves as an outpost for Philippine troops in the disputed waters.

He explained that whenever a RORE mission is conducted, the Philippines simply issues a notice to inform of its movements in the West Philippine Sea, a practice which he described as "standard" for all the vessels that sail in the area.

"That is the extent of it and that does not somehow make [us] more vulnerable or give up any of our sovereign rights, any of our territorial claims that are relevant in this territory, especially under the UNCLOS and the arbitral award. Nothing of that has been weakened in any way, shape, or form," Marcos said.

"It is just an arrangement to inform not any specific country or group or vessel, but everyone who is in the West Philippine Sea that the vessels from the Philippines are going to sail from this place to that place on this day. And that is all, so that there is no confusion that these are unidentified vessels and they have suddenly appeared out of nowhere," he added.

Marcos also said the provisional understanding could not even be considered a "special arrangement" with China.

"I hesitate to use the word 'arrangement' because we're not going into any arrangement with everyone. We're just conducting ourselves according to the standard practice of the vessels sailing in the West Philippine Sea and, for that matter, in other seas," he said.

"So there is no special arrangement… Somehow, the implication is that we have to ask for permission or that we have to give up some kind of, some of our rights. That's not the case at all. The case is very simple," he continued.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), such provisional understanding between the Philippines and China has resulted in 15 incident-free missions to troops stationed at BRP Sierra Madre. — VDV, GMA News