00:00President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said that China is abusing the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea at the ASEAN-East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Laos.
00:12The President condemned the Philippines' intention to have a presence in the West Philippine Sea.
00:18The center of the news is brought to you by Claizel Pardilla.
00:22In front of the leaders of the countries who attended the ASEAN-East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Laos,
00:29President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. denounced China's abuse within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.
00:40According to the President, the three separate incidents where the Philippine ships in the Escoda Shoal were bombed by water and hit by China
00:54were only 70 nautical miles away from the Philippine coast, compared to 600 nautical miles away from mainland China.
01:04The President also said that the use of lasers in the Philippine airspace and the threat of the Chinese warships
01:13The President insisted that the Philippines will use every opportunity to let the world know what is happening in the West Philippine Sea.
01:34We can have discussions, maybe I can serve as an interlocutor, all of these offers, which would not come if we did not make our position clear
01:45and explain to them what the present situation is, how the situations of the world.
01:55The President also insisted that the Philippines will not listen to the threat and harassment of China and IAC
02:03that the presence of the Philippines will remain in the West Philippine Sea.
02:08Our fishermen are being intimidated, our ships and coast guards are being blocked.
02:15We will just have to deal with it. Whatever happens, we will maintain that presence.
02:21Because it is important to show the world and our people that we are in the business of protecting our sovereignty.
02:32We are in the business of protecting our territorial imperatives.
02:38We are insisting on exercising our sovereign rights.
02:43President Marcos admitted that it is not easy to resolve the trans-boundary problem in the South China Sea.
02:50This requires multilateralism or joint efforts of the member states.
02:56The Philippines continues to push for the creation of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
03:03Every single day we push for the conclusion of COC.
03:07It's much more than frustration because there's danger, there's potential danger.
03:13That's something we want to avoid.
03:15In his bilateral meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau,
03:19the President asked for the continued endorsement of the position of the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea.
03:27Meanwhile, the United States assured support to the Philippines for freedom of navigation and overflight in the Indo-Pacific region.
03:37Khaleza Pardilia for Pabansang TV in Bagong, Philippines.
