President Bongbong Marcos said that the Philippines will not invoke its mutual defense treaty with the United States even after China has again shown aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.
The defense treaty means the US will come to the defense of the Philippines in case of an armed attack.
“I do not think that it is a time or the reason to invoke the Mutual Defense Treaty. However, we continue to view with great alarm this continuing dangerous maneuvers and dangerous actions that are being done against our seamen, our Coast Guard,” he said.
“I think that we cannot view this in any way but in the most serious way,” Marcos added.
China has fired water cannons and conducted dangerous maneuvering during a recent resupply mission in Ayungin Shoal.
“The Philippines will make our objections known and hope that we can continue to communicate to find a way so that such actions are no longer seen in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
