Marcos: PH agreement with US, Japan to 'change dynamic' in region

WASHINGTON DC — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Friday said  the trilateral cooperation of the Philippines, Japan and the United States would “change the dynamic” in the region, including in the South China Sea.

The first-ever trilateral partnership among the three nations resulted in Tokyo and Washington vowing to pour in billions of dollars to help develop critical industries in the Philippines, such as clean energy and semiconductors.

“It is going to change the dynamic that we have been seeing in the region, in ASEAN, in Asia, around the South China Sea and certainly I think for the better,” the President said in a press conference here.

PH deals with US, Japan won't affect China's investments: Marcos

“I’m a great believer in coalition and alliances… In the years to come we will see the wisdom of it. We will start to see the wisdom of having that trilateral agreement and why it is essential to enter into,” he said.

China earlier decried the creation of the trilateral partnership, and urged Manila, Tokyo and Washington “stop playing bloc politics” and avoid ostracizing other nations.

While the new cooperation was formalized a week after China’s latest water cannon attack against a Philippine vessel, Marcos Jr. clarified that “the trilateral agreement is not something that is only about convenience or because there is a new situation.”

“A large part of the agreement is on economic proposals and economic assistance and partnership between the three countries,” he said.

“Security and defense of course is there, but that is not the main point of the trilateral agreement and if you’ve read the joint vision statement, talaga namang very well defined na even the sectors, the areas that we have prioritized are stated very clearly,” he said.

The trilateral cooperation is “really about development, coming out of the pandemic,” the Philippine President said.

“We’re still struggling to do that,” he said.

“I’m very confident that the trilateral agreement will be a very big development to the Philippines, and of course to the US and Japan.”

Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel Romualdez earlier said that the Philippines expects to receive $100 billion in investments from Japan and the US in the next 5 to 10 years.

“They have already committed to these investments and the fact that we have together identified areas in the sectors where that investment will go to,” Marcos Jr. said.

“It shows that this is not a promise or an idea that we intend to do. I am very confident that these will all materialize at mararamdaman natin sa Pilipinas lahat.”