South China Sea: Philippines defence chief calls for new alliances, navy revamp to counter Beijing

National Defence Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said new defence partnerships were needed and security personnel’s skills had to be improved to maintain a reliable deterrent posture.

“I’m not a ship captain but you can clearly tell they were dangerously close. And if something bad happened, who gets the blame? We’re moving straight, escorting our vessels. So who’s being irresponsible? The answer is obvious,” Teodoro said.

Chinese, Philippine ships in another confrontation near grounded warship

He added that resupply missions will continue despite the “harassment” and the country’s naval assets need to be nimble to defend its territorial waters, The Philippine Star reported.

US ambassador to the Philippines MaryKay Carlson, who attended the commissioning event, said the vessels provided “real, strategic benefit, not just to the Philippines, but to our alliance and to the region” at an “important time when the maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific is increasingly complex”.

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Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

Philippines accuses Chinese coastguard of firing water cannons at its vessels in disputed waters

But claims that the Philippines was being used as a “proxy war tool” by other countries against China amid continued tensions were rejected by Senator Francis Tolentino at the weekend.

South China Sea not just about US-China rivalry, Philippines says

“It’s not a proxy war because our ally is not just the US, Japan is also our ally, Australia is our ally, the UK is our ally, and Europe is also our ally. I also mentioned in recent weeks, India has emerged as an ally,” Tolentino was quoted as saying by the Philippine Daily Inquirer.