Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered his government to improve its maritime security coordination to confront “a range of serious challenges” to territorial integrity and peace, as its dispute with China escalates.
The order, signed on Monday and made public yesterday, does not mention China, but follows a series of maritime confrontations and accusations between the two over a disputed area of the South China Sea.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
Photo: Reuters
Beijing claims almost all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than US$3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce. China’s claims overlap with those of Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. A 2016 arbitration ruling in The Hague found that China’s claims had no legal basis.
“Despite efforts to promote stability and security in our maritime domain, the Philippines continues to confront a range of serious challenges that threaten territorial integrity, but also the peaceful existence of Filipinos,” Marcos said in the order.
The president on Thursday vowed to implement countermeasures against “illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks” by China’s coast guard.
His order expands and reorganizes the government’s maritime council, adding the national security adviser, solicitor general, National Intelligence Coordinating Agency head and the South China Sea task force.
The order appears to expand the role of the military by naming the Armed Forces of the Philippines, not just the navy, among the agencies supporting the council.
The renamed National Maritime Council would be the central body to formulate strategies to ensure a “unified, coordinated and effective” framework for the Philippines’ maritime security and domain awareness.
Marcos increased the number of agencies supporting the council to 13 from nine, including the Philippine Space Agency and the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea.
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