Philippine presidential front runner Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jnr ducks South China Sea issue

While his four rivals take tough stances on China’s maritime territorial claims in a TV interview, Bongbong refuses to appear, with his team saying the reporter is ‘biased’

Critics suspect his team may be unwilling to jeopardise his popularity with an overtly pro-China line, or possibly just worried he’ll make another gaffe

Reading Time:5 minutes

A Philippine coastguard ship sails past a Chinese counterpart in the South China Sea. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:43pm, 24 Jan 2022Updated: 9:44pm, 24 Jan 2022

Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jnr might be the front runner in opinion polls for the Philippine presidential election in May, but it can’t be because he has won over voters with his stance on Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea.

That’s because nobody knows what it is. While four of his chief rivals for the top job made clear their positions on the hot button issue in interviews over the weekend with the GMA Network TV station, Marcos ducked out – with his team claiming the reporter was “biased”.

That did little to convince his critics, many of whom suggested the move either indicated Marcos did not want to jeopardise his lead by taking an overtly pro-China line or that his team was trying to protect him from making a gaffe that would expose a lack of knowledge on the issue.

The South China Sea has long been a sensitive issue in Philippine foreign policy, with the country in 2016 winning a landmark ruling at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that went against Beijing’s extensive territorial claims to more than 90 per cent of the waterway. That case was pursued by then president Benigno Aquino III, but since then his successor as president, Rodrigo Duterte, has chosen largely to ignore the ruling to avoid angering Beijing, as part of a wider policy to befriend China at the expense of the country’s traditional ally the United States.

With Duterte unable to stand for re-election, as the Philippine constitution limits presidents to single terms of six years, attention is now focusing on how his successor will deal with the issue.

Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jnr is leading opinion polls in the run-up to the Philippine presidential election. Photo: Reuters

Speaking up

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x