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By Fan Fan, People’s Daily<\/p>\n
Amid escalating conflicts in the Middle East,\u00a0the Philippines has emerged as one of the first nations to face tangible repercussions.\u00a0Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos declared a nationwide energy emergency via executive order\u00a0— the first\u00a0such declaration globally since disruptions\u00a0in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
Heavily reliant on imported energy, the Philippines confronts surging oil prices that exacerbate already high inflation and pose significant political risks. Transport groups across the country have repeatedly staged large-scale protests outside the presidential palace, denouncing soaring\u00a0fuel costs and perceived governmental inaction..<\/p>\n
What followed, however, was particularly noteworthy.<\/p>\n
On the very day the energy emergency was declared, Marcos suddenly adopted\u00a0an unexpectedly conciliatory stance\u00a0toward China, stating that bilateral\u00a0relations would “certainly be adjusted.” He\u00a0voiced readiness to resume bilateral oil and gas cooperation,\u00a0and even\u00a0thanked China for its\u00a0generous\u00a0fertilizer\u00a0assistance.<\/p>\n
The conciliatory tone, however, proved short-lived. Within days, the Philippines reverted to familiar tactics: Marcos signed another executive order, unilaterally renaming 131 geographical features within China’s Nansha Islands\u00a0in the South China Sea. At the same time, Philippine\u00a0vessels to intruded\u00a0into waters off\u00a0Huangyan Island\u00a0under the jurisdiction of the China Coast Guard, clearly attempting to stir up incidents and generate media hype.<\/p>\n
This abrupt shift from gratitude to provocation reflects an ill-advised strategy of dual-track opportunism.\u00a0Domestically, many Philippine politicians simultaneously court external allies that benefit from South China Sea tensions under the guise of national security, while remaining deeply dependent on economic cooperation with China. This contradictory approach becomes especially pronounced during regional tensions or domestic crises.<\/p>\n
Shortly after taking office\u00a0in 2022, Marcos signaled\u00a0interest in resuming joint energy development talks with China to diversify the Philippines’ energy supply. As he stated, cooperation was essential\u00a0— because the resources were needed.<\/p>\n
Yet subsequent actions contradicted this rhetoric. While claiming to separate territorial disputes from trade arrangements, the Marcos administration has actively brought in extra-regional military forces, continuously stirred frictions in sensitive waters, and let anti-China rhetoric dominate public debate, misleading its people.<\/p>\n
The administration’s pattern is clear: provoke China while expecting its assistance. Such duplicitous maneuvering has become routine in Manila’s recent policymaking.<\/p>\n
But can this two-faced strategy succeed?<\/p>\n
The ongoing energy crisis exposes the Philippines’ structural vulnerabilities: a fragile\u00a0economy, excessive\u00a0import dependence, and self-sabotaging entanglement in geopolitical tensions. These factors render the nation uniquely susceptible to global instability — a reality underscored by historical precedent. Philippine politicians should seriously reconsider what truly serves national interests and how to pursue an independent foreign policy.<\/p>\n
Geography is immutable: neighbors cannot be relocated.\u00a0Prudent statecraft demands constructive engagement. Provoking conflicts while seeking emergency aid is neither credible nor acceptable.\u00a0If the Philippine truly cares about\u00a0the well-being\u00a0of its people and desires stable\u00a0relations with China, it must fundamentally recalibrate its China strategy and cease provocative actions.<\/p>\n
China\u00a0takes note of\u00a0the Philippines’ stated wish\u00a0to stabilize relations and enhance dialogue, and hopes the Philippine side will meet China halfway by taking concrete actions to create the\u00a0conditions needed\u00a0for steady improvement in bilateral ties.<\/p>\n
This energy emergency should serve as a sobering lesson: deliberately undermining cooperation with China while expecting its benefits is unsustainable. Those attempting to play both sides ultimately gain neither.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Fan Fan, People’s Daily Amid escalating conflicts in the Middle East,\u00a0the Philippines has emerged as one of the first nations to face tangible repercussions.\u00a0Recently, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos declared a nationwide energy emergency via executive order\u00a0— the first\u00a0such declaration globally since disruptions\u00a0in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5497","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n