Calls on Asia-Pacific nations to be free from the clutches of geopolitics
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Monday that countries in the Asia Pacific region should chart their own destiny away from the clutches of intense geopolitical rivalry, noting that there is unanimity among those nations not to embrace the Cold War mentality.
Speaking during a luncheon hosted for him and the Philippine Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) by the economic team in Davos, Switzerland, President Marcos said countries in the Asia Pacific are facing pressure to take sides as a result of intense geopolitical tension in the region.
The President said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member economies are very well committed to the idea that they cannot return to the Cold War formula, in which they have to choose whether to be under the Soviet Union or the United States spheres of influence.
“No country grew wealthy without a very strong trade relationship, not only with one or two other countries but with the rest of the world…. We all desire, especially let us say around the South China Sea, we all desire a more multi-polar [geopolitics],” Mr. Marcos said.
“However, the forces of us going back to that Cold War type of scenario where you have to choose one side or the other are strong. So the multilateralism that ASEAN—what we call the ASEAN Centrality, has become a very important concept. I think we are determined as a group in ASEAN and in the Indo-Pacific, those around the Indo-Pacific, despite all of this conflict we are determined to stay away from that.”
And that puts the Philippines in a very precarious position, being on the front line of this conflict, Mr. Marcos said, adding “this is the very fine line” that the Philippines has to walk.
Faced with pressure to choose sides, the President said, “we choose our friends, we choose our neighbors, that’s the choice that we will make.”
At the same time, President Marcos also highlighted the tendency for nations to move toward nationalism and protectionism as a result of the present crises such as the coronavirus pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Pointing to the Philippines as an example, the President said the pandemic brought the country back to the basics, in which it could no longer depend on importation to survive.
“We have to strengthen our own local economy to be able to withstand shocks such as the pandemic, such as Ukraine in the future and there is an element, there is a tendency of protectionism in that because we take care first of our own businesses, we take care first of our own industries, we take care first of our own economy,” President Marcos said.
Although there are some disruptions he described as “a very big bump on the road,” the President predicted that the world will find itself on the path toward globalization, which he described as “inevitable.”
Earlier, President Marcos commented on the query on what will be the stand of the Philippines on the 10-point peace formula presentation of both Russia and Ukraine for a peace in the warring region.
“That’s not for us to decide. Of course, we are on the side of peace… Any expressions of support that we might feel are needed, we are happy to provide,” Marcos said.
“Should there be talks… between Ukraine and Russia, they must be the ones who must talk about it. We support any effort towards peace,” he said.