The Philippines and China resumed high-level talks in March over the disputed South China Sea, exploring preliminary steps towards cooperation on oil and gas.
The two countries have for years discussed the prospect of joint exploration, including in the Reed Bank, but talks have repeatedly broken down, with disagreements about which country had sovereign rights.
Despite the disputes between the two maritime neighbours, Marcos said he was optimistic that they could continue to cooperate economically.
“I don’t think that’s in any policy, in any policy statement, that we are distancing ourselves from China,” Marcos said.
“We are continuing to find many, many instances where we are very much in cooperation with China. China is one of the biggest investors still in the Philippines,” he added.
Ties between the Philippines and China have been strained for years, and were tested again recently by a series of confrontations in the South China Sea.
Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, a strategic waterway through which more than US$3 trillion in trade passes every year, despite a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated those claims in a case brought by Manila.
Marcos also said there was no special arrangement with Beijing that obliged the Philippines to ask for permission to carry out resupply missions in the South China Sea or ceded any of its rights in the region, adding that Manila’s position had not been weakened.
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