MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has ordered his government to strengthen coordination on maritime security to address “a number of serious challenges” to territorial integrity and peace as the dispute with China deepens.
The order, signed on Monday and made public on Sunday, does not mention China but follows a series of bilateral maritime clashes and mutual accusations over a disputed area of the South China Sea.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Sunday.
Beijing claims nearly all of the South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual maritime trade. China’s claims overlap with those of the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 said China’s claims had no legal basis.
The latest flare-up occurred last weekend, when China used water cannons to disrupt a Philippine resupply mission at Second Thomas Shoal for soldiers guarding a warship intentionally beached on a coral reef 25 years ago .
“Despite efforts to promote stability and security in our maritime domain, the Philippines continues to face a number of serious challenges that threaten the territorial integrity, but also the peaceful existence of Filipinos,” Marcos said in the order.
The president vowed Thursday to implement countermeasures against “illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks” by China’s coast guard.
His order expands and reorganizes the government’s Maritime Council, adding the national security adviser, the attorney general, the head of the National Intelligence Coordination Agency and the South China Sea Task Force.
The order appears to expand the role of the military by naming the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and not just the navy, among the agencies supporting the council.
The renamed National Maritime Council will be the central body to formulate strategies to ensure a “unified, coordinated and effective” framework for Philippine maritime security and domain awareness.
Marcos increased the number of agencies supporting the council from nine to 13, including the space agency and the University of the Philippines’ Institute for Maritime Affairs and the Law of the Sea.