PHILIPPINE President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Thursday said he plans to meet with US President Donald J. Trump to discuss various issues including immigration, in an effort to influence policy that he said could affect a large number of Filipinos in the US.
“We will see how we can influence policymaking in terms of immigration,” Marcos said without saying when that meeting would take place.
Mr. Trump has clamped down on immigration, vowing to undo the policies of his predecessor that he said enabled the large influx of undocumented immigrants.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has said it is impossible for about 300,000 undocumented Filipinos in the US to be deported in the next four years.
“About a few hundred Filipinos have been sent home,” Mr. Marcos said in Filipino. “This is something that we have to work through and hopefully resolve because the Filipinos in the United States, especially, have really [become an] important part already of their workforce.”
Speaking with reporters on various topics, Mr. Marcos also said he would return a Typhon missile system to the US if China ceased what he said was aggressive and coercive behavior, including claiming features in the South China Sea.
China has opposed the US deployment of the missile system for exercises in the Philippines, a defense ally of Washington, and has repeatedly called for its withdrawal.
“I don’t understand the comments on the Typhon missile system,” Mr. Marcos said. “We don’t make any comments on their missile systems and their missile systems are a thousand times more powerful than what we have.”
“Let’s make a deal with China: Stop claiming our territory, stop harassing our fishermen and let them have a living, stop ramming our boats, stop water cannoning our people, stop firing lasers at us and stop your aggressive and coercive behavior and I’ll return the Typhon missiles,” he added.
China, which claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, has repeatedly accused Philippine vessels of encroachment on its territory. Bilateral ties are at their worst in years after repeated confrontations and heated diplomatic rows.
The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the President’s remarks.
The Typhon missile system was deployed by US forces to the Philippines in April last year as part of their Balikatan or “shoulder-to-shoulder” military exercises, and has since stayed in the country.
The launchers were redeployed to a new location in the Philippines, which officials declined to disclose, Reuters reported last week.
RADIO CHALLENGEMeanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard said its largest ship had been issuing hourly radio challenges to a Chinese vessel near the coast of Zambales province.
“The BRP Teresa Magbanua is actively and resolutely addressing the unlawful presence of the China Coast Guard (CCG) vessel with bow number 3304 within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ),” it said in a statement on Wednesday night.
The actions of CCG 3304 “violate the Philippine Maritime Zones Act, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which China has ratified, as well as the 2016 arbitral award,” the PCG said.
“It is worth noting that the PCG vessel successfully pushed CCG 3304 further away from Zambales, achieving an approximate distance of 85-90 nautical miles (157 to 167 kilometers),” it added.
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) on Tuesday night said it had sent the 97-meter BRP Teresa Magbanua to monitor Chinese vessels near the coast of Zambales province in the country’s north. Teresa Magbanua replaced the 44-meter vessel BRP Cabra, which arrived at Subic Port on Tuesday morning to unload the body of a fisherman that it recovered on Monday.
Teresa Magbanua can displace 2,265 tons of water, compared with 12,000 tons for China Coast Guard ship 5901, the largest coast guard cutter in the world.
The PCG on Monday night accused China Coast Guard (CCG) 3304 of shadowing its ship that was rescuing a distressed fishing boat near the Zambales coast.
It said Cabra navigated through heavy waves to retrieve the body of a Filipino fisherman using its crane.
“It is crucial to note that the Chinese Coast Guard vessel CCG 3304, despite being aware of the distress call from the Filipino fishermen, engaged in shadowing that hindered the PCG vessel’s efforts to recover the body,” the PCG earlier said.
The Philippines has accused China of intimidating Filipino fishermen near Scarborough Shoal and normalizing its “illegal presence” after Beijing sent its monster ship into the Philippine EEZ on Jan. 4.
A United Nations-backed court in The Hague voided China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea in 2016, as it ruled the shoal is a traditional fishing ground for Filipino, Chinese and Vietnamese fishermen. — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza with Reuters