Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has said his country’s military must urgently focus on the protection of territorial integrity as disputes between Manila and China multiply amid growing rivalry in the region between Beijing and Washington.
Marcos Jr made his comment in a speech to his armed forces just weeks after he summoned China’s ambassador in Manila to protest against the use of a military-grade laser by the Chinese coastguard that briefly blinded crew members of a Philippine patrol vessel in the South China Sea.
