MARCOS JR SAYS PHILIPPINES TO UPHOLD SOUTH CHINA SEA RULING

MANILA: Philippine presidentelect Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Thursday he would uphold an international ruling against Beijing over the disputed South China Sea, insisting he would not let China trample on Manila’s maritime rights.

China claims almost all of the resource- rich waterway, through which trillions of dollars in trade passes annually, with competing claims from the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Beijing has ignored a 2016 decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that declared its historical claim to be without basis.

Outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte fostered warmer ties with his more powerful neighbour by setting aside the ruling in exchange for promises of trade and investment, which critics said have not materialised. In his strongest comments yet on the longstanding source of tensions between the two nations, Marcos said he would not “allow a single millimetre of our maritime coastal rights to be trampled upon”.

“We have a very important ruling in our favour and we will use it to continue to assert our territorial rights. It is not a claim. It is already our territorial right,” Marcos told selected local media.

“We’re talking about China. We talk to China consistently with a firm voice,” he said.

But he added: “We cannot go to war with them. That’s the last thing we need right now.”

Marcos, popularly known as Bongbong, secured more than half of the votes in the May 9 election to win the presidency by a wide margin and cap a remarkable comeback for his family.

His father and namesake ruled the Philippines for 20 years, presiding over widespread corruption and human rights abuses before he was ousted in 1986. Marcos Jr formally takes office on June 30.

He and his running mate Sara Duterte, who also won the vice presidential race in a landslide, have embraced key policies of the elder Duterte.