Marcos supports officials defending PH sovereignty – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. fully supports officials defending the country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) as long as their actions are in line with the country’s advocacy to fight for that country’s rights, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said on Monday.

China’s Foreign Ministry earlier summoned the Philippines’ ambassador to Beijing over remarks made by Commodore Jay Tarriela, allegedly smearing Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “dignity.”

READ: China summons PH envoy in Beijing over Tarriela’s remarks

“First of all, the president himself said that he would not surrender even an inch of our territory. So, whatever our agencies are doing to fight for the interests of our country. That is what the president wants, and that is also the president’s order,” Castro said in Filipino at a press briefing.

“But diplomacy will still be needed so that if there are issues in other countries, they can be resolved in a way that involves diplomacy,” she added.

READ: West PH Sea: Hontiveros calls for action as Chinese embassy targets Tarriela

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the head of the MFA’s Department of Asian Affairs summoned Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz on last Thursday morning “to once again lodge a serious protest.” 

Before that, the Chinese Embassy in Manila filed a diplomatic protest against Tarriela after he used an image collage of Xi that appeared to be an artificial intelligence-generated depiction of the leader fuming in anger, flexing his muscles, and even holding a wooden boat bearing a Philippine flag.

Guo accused the Philippine government of “turning a blind eye” to Tarriela, who made “inflammatory, confrontational, misleading and baseless remarks against China on maritime issues.”

Tarriela, for his part, said on Friday that “since this concerns me personally, I would like to respond by saying that threatening a public servant for telling the truth will not intimidate us.”

“It only proves that transparency is working — and that China fears an informed world more than it fears international law…Transparency in the WPS is not provocation, rather it is merely exposing the bully aggressor and the real victim,” he added. /gsg