VANCOUVER – Inamin ni President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na “worried” siya na maaaring iba ang maging lapit ng susunod na administrasyon sa West Philippine Sea (WPS) issue.
Sa media interview bago bumalik sa Maynila matapos ang four-day official visit sa Canada, binigyang-diin ni Marcos na kailangang maging consistent ang Pilipinas sa pagprotekta at pagdepensa sa WPS.
Iginiit din niya ang kahalagahan ng pagtaguyod sa 2016 arbitral ruling na pumabor sa Pilipinas laban sa China kaugnay ng matagal nang maritime disputes.
“Well, of course, it’s a very important issue for the Philippines, if you’re asking me if I’m worried that the policy of the Philippines will change after I leave office, of course, I am. Because it’s almost, not quite, but it’s almost an existential issue for us,” sabi ni Marcos.
“So we really have to be consistent in that. And I think the rightness in our positioning, in terms of the way we position the Philippines in our foreign policy vis-à-vis the arbitral agreement, arbitral award is validated by countries like Canada [that] support it and see it as simply an enforcement of international law and the defense of our territorial integrity and the exercise of our sovereign rights within our sovereign territory,” dagdag niya.
Noong July 12, 2016, ibinasura ng Permanent Court of Arbitration, na binuo sa ilalim ng 1982 Law of the Sea Convention, ang tinatawag na nine-dash line ng China sa South China Sea.
Ang invisible demarcation na ito, na kalaunan ay lumawak bilang 10-dash line, ay sumasaklaw at nag-aangkin ng malaking bahagi ng South China Sea, kabilang ang exclusive economic zone ng Pilipinas sa WPS. /Bistado