‘Do we pine for a leadership that wants PH to be Chinese province?’
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a speech during the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on May 31, 2024. —Photo by Nhac Nguyen/Agence France-Presse
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday stoked Filipinos’ apprehension on perceived creeping Chinese influence in the country as he made a pitch for the administration’s Senate slate.
In 2018, then-President Rodrigo Duterte said that China could make the Philippines its own province.
“Tayo ba ay papayag na babalik sa panahon kung kailan gusto ng ating mga liderato na maging probinsya tayo ng Tsina?” Marcos Jr. said in his speech at Alyansa sa Bagong Pilipinas rally in Ilocos Norte.
(Will we allow the wish of previous leaders that we become a province of China?)
READ: Marcos on admin slate: They’re not tainted by tokhang, Pogo, pro-China
Marcos Jr. also attacked Duterte’s policy on China’s intrusion in the West Philippine Sea and the proliferation of Chinese-operated Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) hubs during his predecessor’s term, as he claimed that the administration’s slate had nothing to do with these policies.
‘Alyansa’ is fielding senators Pia Cayetano, Imee Marcos, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla, and Francis Tolentino; former senators Vicente Sotto III, Panfilo Lacson, and Manny Pacquiao; House lawmakers Deputy Speaker Camille Villar and ACT-CIS party-list Rep. Erwin Tulfo; former Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos; and Makati City Mayor Abby Binay.
“Wala sa kanila ang mga pumapalakpak sa Tsina at natutuwa pa kapag tayo ay binobomba ng tubig, tinatamaan ang ating mga Coast Guard, hinaharang ang ating mga mangingisda, ninanakaw ang kanilang mga huli at bukod pa do’n ay inaagaw ang mga isla natin para maging bahagi ng kanilang bansa,” Marcos said.
(None of them claps for China and is even happy whenever we are being water cannoned, our Coast Guard rammed, fishermen blocked, their catches stolen and our islands retaken as their own territory.)
“Wala po sa kanila ang tilang sakristan ng isang bulaang propeta na nasasadlak dahil sa pagyurak sa ating kabataan at ating kababaihan. Wala sa kanila ang tiga-taguyod ng pugad ng krimen, ng sentro ng paglalapastangan ng mga kababaihan na mga Pogo,” he added.
(None of them acts like the acolyte of a false prophet who is languishing due to his defiling of our youth and women. None of them defends the hotbeds of crime and sexual harassment against women—the Pogos.)
Duterte pivoted to China but Marcos Jr. later reversed this move.
Marcos green lighted joint patrols and military exercises with the United States in the West Philippine Sea and allowed Washington access to four more Philippine military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (Edca) which earned the ire of China.
Two of the newly-approved Edca sites are located in coastal towns of Cagayan which is relatively near Taiwan, a self-ruled island regarded by China as a renegade province subject to reunification.
These new Edca sites irked Beijing, stressing that the agreement was made so that Washington could “encircle and contain China” which would drag the Philippines into “the Taiwan question,” a claim that was rejected by Manila.
Beijing also claims sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea, including most of the West Philippine Sea, but an international tribunal ruling in 2016 effectively dismissed this while ruling heavily in favor of Manila.
Amidst all this, Marcos also formally banned Pogos in the country.
