THE ADMINISTRATION of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. has been heavily relying on United States for its foreign policy and defense capabilities as tensions rise in the South China Sea, the think tank Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) said.
“Marcos definitely is locked into this illusion that the future of the Philippines lies in the strong military alliance with the US and other so-called allies,” CenPEG Director for Policy Studies Bobby M. Tuazon told an online forum on Tuesday.
According to Mr. Tuazon, the President has adopted a foreign policy that retains China as an economic partner, while also tapping the US for defense capabilities.
“(He) maintains a dual balancing foreign policy, meaning maintaining economic ties with China, while turning over the Philippines to the US for defense against China,” he said.
Relations between Manila and Washington have strengthened under the Marcos administration, who has taken a more assertive stance against Beijing’s assertion into the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
“Under Bongbong Marcos more war drills were conducted between the Philippines and the US and other so-called allies since 2022 to the present,” Mr. Tuazon said. “(These included) Balikatan war exercises, joint patrol operations in the South China Sea, and also war exercises near Honolulu, Hawaii.”
The Marcos government has expanded joint military exercises with US forces, opened additional sites under their Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and pursued stronger ties with other foreign partners.
The US is the Philippines’ major security partner, with a 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty compelling both nations to defend each other in case of an armed attack.
Mr. Tuazon added that the Philippines’ close relations with the US had made the country lose economic partnerships with China.
“We have lost opportunities. In fact, many presidents tend to tilt toward spending time more in military alliances, oblivious of the fact that what the Philippines need then and now is economic wealth,” he said.
In 2023, Manila backed out of Beijing’s global infrastructure scheme, as China became unresponsive to its funding requests for railway projects.
Tensions between the two countries have escalated in recent years due to their dispute in the South China Sea. — Adrian H. Halili
