MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos said Friday that the Philippines was “making progress” on potential energy exploration with China despite ongoing tensions over their competing claims in the disputed South China Sea.
Since the outbreak of war in the Middle East, prices at the pump have soared in the import-dependent archipelago, driving inflation and depressing growth to its lowest levels in years.
Marcos, who declared a national energy emergency in March, said Friday that the situation had given new urgency to ongoing talks.
“The Philippines needs additional supplies of oil and gas. We need to explore the possibilities that we have,” he told a gathering of the country’s foreign correspondents’ association.
Talks halted in 2022
“In the Philippines, in the West Philippine Sea, and wherever else, we can make a joint (deal),” he said, using Manila’s name for areas of the South China Sea.
The Philippines terminated talks with China for a joint energy project in the South China Sea after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered an end to negotiations in 2022.
Marcos reopened the door to discussions in 2023 following a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Manila’s foreign ministry announced in March that “initial exchanges on potential oil and gas cooperation” had begun.
Pressed on whether a deal would be possible before the end of his term in two years, Marcos said “certainly.”
READ: China driving West Philippine Sea tensions, not PH – Tarriela
“We wouldn’t be having these discussions if it was not with a view to actually … having such a joint operation,” he said.
“I think the sense I get is that all parties involved want it to succeed. And that’s always a very good sign.”
Beijing claims most of the South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis, and its coast guard has clashed repeatedly with that of the Philippines, sparking fears of an armed conflict.
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The Philippines and China summoned each other’s ambassadors last month following a clash at a shoal in the crucial waterway, which sparked condemnation of Beijing by Manila’s allies. /cb
