Marcos to visit Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos will visit the Indo-Pacific Command during his weeklong trip to the United States next week, where he may discuss the West Philippine Sea dispute with American security officials.

Marcos will set foot at the headquarters of the Hawaii-based command after participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in San Francisco and meeting American investors and the Filipino community in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Honolulu.

It will be Marcos’ 18th overseas trip since becoming president in June last year.

Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Charles Jose said the 30th APEC Economic Leaders Meeting would be held from Nov. 15 to 17 in San Francisco, California.

Marcos will be in Los Angeles from Nov. 17 to 18 and then will travel to Hawaii for a two-day visit until Nov. 19.

The President was invited to visit the Indo-Pacific Command, whose area of responsibility encompasses about half the earth’s surface and has approximately 375,000 military and civilian personnel, according to Jose.

Marcos will also have a roundtable discussion with the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

“It’s already in the, I think, President’s schedule (for) the visit. I don’t have the complete details with me right now, but I know it’s already a part of the President’s program,” Jose said at a press briefing at Malacañang.

Asked if the agenda of the visit would include the situation in the South China Sea, Jose replied: “Well, like I said, I don’t have all the details. But I would imagine that would be part of the visit; there will be a security briefing.”

Marcos’ visit was announced as the Philippines, a treaty ally of the US, and China are embroiled in fresh tensions over the West Philippine Sea, the portion of the South China Sea inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.

A Hague-based tribunal voided China’s maritime claims and affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights over its EEZ in 2016, but the Chinese government refused to recognize the ruling.

Chinese ships continue to harass Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, prompting Manila to criticize what it described as Beijing’s illegal activities in the area.

Pressed about the significance of Marcos’ decision to accept the invitation of the Indo-Pacific Command, Jose paused for a few seconds, then replied: “Well, of course, it adds a layer to the cooperation that we are trying to establish with like-minded states in order to promote what we have been advocating all along – a rules-based order, especially in maritime areas.”

In June, the national security advisers of the Philippines, Japan and the US reaffirmed the importance of strengthening trilateral cooperation and response capabilities to maintain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region during a meeting in Tokyo. They also tackled opportunities to conduct combined maritime activities, including multilateral joint naval exercises, in Indo-Pacific waters to support freedom of navigation and a rules-based order.