The Philippine president has said the US military will not grant access to additional indigenous camps

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. smiles as he attends the Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Manila, Philippines. | Image Credit: AP

On April 15, the Philippine president said his administration had no plans to grant US military access to more Philippine military bases and emphasized that the US military presence was provoked by China’s aggressive actions in the disputed South China Sea.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who took office in 2022, allowed access of American troops and weapons to four additional Philippine military bases, bringing to nine the number of camps where US forces can rotate indefinitely under the 2014 agreement.

The Biden administration has been strengthening its arc of security alliances in the region to better counter China, a move that has seen the Philippines shore up its external defenses, particularly in the South China Sea.

Last year Mr. Marcos’ decision alarmed China because the two new sites are located across from Taiwan and southern China. Beijing accuses the Philippines of providing a platform for US forces that can be used to undermine its security.

“The Philippines has no plans to create any more bases or give access to any more bases,” Mr. Marcos said without elaborating in response to a question during a forum with Manila-based foreign reporters.

When asked if he was concerned that allowing US military access to Philippine bases would provoke Chinese actions in the South China Sea, Mr. Marcos said the US military presence was a response to China’s moves.

“What happened in the South China Sea, these are responses to the aggressive actions we have to counter,” he said, mentioning Chinese coast guard vessels using water cannons and lasers to deter Philippine ships from areas claimed by Beijing. on its own.

He cited clashes, blockade of Filipino fishermen and sea barriers to block ships from Scarborough Shoal, which is in the Philippine economic zone.

Under Mr. Marcos, the Philippines adopted a strategy of publicizing events by allowing journalists to board its patrol vessels to witness China’s assertive actions.

“It is critical that the media… continue to expose these actions that not only threaten the peace and stability of the region but also undermine the rules-based order that underpinned global development and prosperity in the past century,” Mr. Marcos said.

It has blamed the Philippines for stoking the conflict over what it says are China’s territorial waters and withdrawing an alleged agreement to tow an old Philippine Navy ship that now serves as Manila’s territorial outpost in the disputed Second Thomas Shoal.

Mr. Marcos said he was not aware of any such agreement and that he considered it null and void if it existed.

Last week, President Joe Biden renewed Washington’s “ironclad” commitment to protecting Pacific allies during a summit with Mr Marcos and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House. He reiterated that the US has an obligation to defend the Philippines if its forces, aircraft or ships come under armed attack.