In his first foreign policy pronouncement since being proclaimed president-elect, Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday said he would uphold a 2016 decision by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) that favored Manila’s diplomatic protest against Beijing’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. “Our sovereignty is sacred and we will not compromise it in any way,” Marcos said at his press briefing with select local media a day after he was proclaimed by Congress as the successor of President Duterte. In 2016, the United Nations-backed PCA in The Hague invalidated Beijing’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea but the Asian superpower has not recognized the ruling.

Corrales, N., & Santos, T. G. (2022, May 27). Marcos to assert Hague ruling. Philippine Daily Inquirer, p. A5.