MANILA – A potential killing of a Filipino serviceman or citizen in the West Philippine Sea can be deemed an act of war, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said.
Asked during the 2024 IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, President Marcos said it can be considered crossing the red line when a Filipino sailor will be killed due to the water cannon attacks of China Coast Guard in the region.
“If there’s an incident that ended up killing a Filipino serviceman, be they a Coast Guard or in the military, part of the Navy, that would certainly increase the level of response,” Marcos said.
“If by a willful act, a Filipino, not only serviceman or any a Filipino citizen, if a Filipino citizen is killed by a willful act, that is I think a very very close to what we define us act of war,” he added.
The Chief Executive further said that the government would respond accordingly over this kind of action, noting that this would certainly “cross the Rubicon.”
“Once we have already – we already have suffered injury, but thank God, we have not yet gotten to the point where any of our participants, civilian or otherwise have been killed,” Marcos said.
“But once we get to that point, that is certainly (the point) we would have crossed the Rubicon. Is that a red line? Almost certainly it’s going to be a red line,” he added.
President Marcos earlier said the Philippine government would never resort to using water cannons in defending the country’s territory.
According to him, he does not want to aggravate the already tense situation in the West Philippine Sea following the China Coast Guard’s harassment on Philippine vessels./PN
