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Presidential aspirant and former Senator Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr will continue the Duterte administration's policy of engagement with China regarding the territorial issue in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Marcos, who is leading the presidential surveys for the May 2022 elections, said the country does not have a choice since China does not recognize the arbitral tribunal decision favoring the Philippine claim in the South China Sea.

"We need to continue the engagement, and diplomacy. That's the general policy. We cannot do anything because China does not accept the arbitration. We cannot go into war so the only choice that is left for us is to talk with China and slowly address the problem, let us improve the engagement. It may help us slowly address the bigger problem, that is what we expect," he said.

"That is the approach that we still have to maintain. The engagement approach of President Duterte is right because in my opinion that is the way that will give us success in the conflicting claims of China and Philippines," he added.

Marcos added that the Philippines must treat neighbors as friends so that conflicts between states can be addressed through engagements.

"Our neighboring countries, in ASEAN, in Asia we should all treat them as friends because we have to be good neighbors... that is a general policy to everyone, that we treat everyone as friends and hopefully allies because we have many conflicting claims with China and other states. So it needs to be discussed," he said. Robina Asido/DMS