President Marcos says in a media interview in Washington that he also plans to get answers from former Duterte officials on his predecessor’s “gentleman’s agreement” on Ayungin Shoal with his Chinese counterpart.

Read more.

A cooperation agreement by the Philippines, the United States, and Japan will change the dynamic in the South China Sea and the region, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday, April 12, while seeking to assure China it was not a target.

“I think the trilateral agreement is extremely important,” Marcos told a press conference in Washington a day after meeting US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the nations’ first trilateral summit.

“It is going to change the dynamic, the dynamic that we see in the region, in ASEAN in Asia, around the South China Sea,” Marcos said, referring to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Read more.

“That’s not the role of the Vice President or the secretary of education to talk about China,” President Marcos says in an interview with Philippine media in Washington.

Read more.

Business deals that the Philippines secured at a summit with Japan and the United States will not affect China’s investments in the Philippines, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said on Friday.

“This (trilateral agreement) is separate from any proposed or potential Chinese investments in the Philippines. How do I see it, how will it affect? I don’t see that it will affect, one way or the other,” Marcos told a press conference in Washington after the summit.

WASHINGTON, USA – The White House said on Friday, April 12, there is no reason for China to see a US summit this week with Japan and the Philippines as a threat.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby spoke after China complained to Japan and the Philippines about some of the rhetoric emerging from President Joe Biden’s summit talks with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines this week.

“These meetings were not about any one other nation. This was about deepening and revitalizing existing alliances and partnerships and strengthening some new ones,” Kirby told reporters.

“There’s no reason for the PRC to look at this as any kind of a threat. This was simply a discussion between three allies about mutual challenges and quite frankly mutual opportunities that we are trying to explore in the Indo-Pacific region,” he said. – Rappler.com

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., US President Joe Biden, and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida take part in the first-ever trilateral summit between the three countries. Rappler multimedia reporters Bea Cupin and Dwight de Leon give a rundown of what was discussed, from the South China Sea problem, to investment pacts.

Play Video

The three nations call out Beijing’s “dangerous and destabilizing conduct” in Ayungin Shoal, where Chinese ships routinely obstruct Philippine missions to a military outpost.

Read more.

Ahead of the first trilateral United States-Japan-Philippines leaders’ summit, US President Jos Biden holds a bilateral meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at the White House in Washington on April 11 (April 12, Manila time).

Play Video