「日刊まにら新聞」ウェブ

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the Philippines will send a note verbale to China to clarify the incident where the Chinese Coast Guard allegedly seized a floating debris found by the Philippine Navy near the waters off Pagasa Island on Sunday.

"I think that that’s what we need to do because... When it was first reported to me by the Chief of Staff, I asked him to immediately call the military attache in the Chinese embassy and to get a report," Marcos said in an interview in Pasay City on Tuesday.

"The report of the Philippine Navy and the report from China are different because the word 'forcibly' was used in the Navy, in the Philippine Navy report. And that was not the characterization in the Chinese navy report or the report coming from China," he added.

In a radio interview on Tuesday morning, National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos said she recommended to Marcos sending a note verbale to China.

Marcos also expressed his full trust and confidence with the Philippine Navy despite the difference of its report from the Chinese embassy.

"We have to resolve this issue. Of course, I have complete trust in our Navy and if this is what they say happened, I can only believe that that is what happened. We have to now ask the Chinese why is it that their account is so different and it’s much more benign... Because the word forcibly was used in the, at least in the initial reports of the Philippine Navy," he said.

" I’m glad that I am going to Beijing early January because these are the things that we need to work out. Because with the way that the region, our region, Asia-Pacific, is heating up, maybe there was just a mistake, misunderstanding, then the fire will grow," he added.

Marcos said he wants to have a mechanism that will prevent "such incidents" or any miscalculation. Robina Asido/DMS