The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Tracy Cabrera
While Chinese naval ships and coast guard vessels continue to patrol within Philippine territorial waters near Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine government is adamant not to pullout the Typhon missile system deployed by the United States last year.
President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. is firm in his decision not pull out the vaunted US missile system unless China gives in to demands to stop its incursions into Philippines territories, particularly in the country’s exclusive economic zones (EEZs).
Presidential Communications Office (PCO) chief and Palace press officer spelled out the President’s stand after Beijing called out the Philippines for “acting in bad faith” for allowing the intermediate range missiles to remain in the country’s territorial waters.
“The President has not reneged on his pronouncement – he has demands. If China has demands, we have a counter demand regarding that. Our stance remains, the President’s stance stays,” Castro disclosed during a media briefing.
Just this January (the current year), the chief executive challenged China to stop its coercive actions in the South China Sea in exchange for him to order the return of the typhoon missile system to the United States.
The Typhon missile launchers have been in the country since after the Balikatan exercises in April 2024 and has been set up in two undisclosed sites in Northern Luzon.
China has protested the missile displacement, saying its presence fans growing tension in the region as it claimed that the ‘loaned’ missile launchers could hit targets in the Chinese mainland from the northern tip of Luzon.
Beijing likewise insisted that “the region needs peace and prosperity, not intermediate range missiles and confrontation.”
As of press time, however, neither President Marcos Jr. nor anyone in Malacañang has received any official response from the Beijing regarding his demand for Chinese warships to cease its maneuvering within Philippine territorial waters.