Philippine President Ramps Up Rhetoric as Local Attitudes Harden

File image of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in March. Photo: Nhac Nguyen / AFP

The President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., told soldiers to be ready for any conflict amid a potential overlap of his country’s tensions with China in the South China Sea and growing tensions between China and Taiwan.

Speaking to troops at a base in the northern Isabela province on Monday, Marcos said: “The external threat now has become more pronounced, has become more worrisome, and that is why we have to prepare.”

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by Cobus van Staden

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