MANILA, Philippines – Former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping was not a surprise for the current President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

But even if Duterte did not ask for permission from Marcos, he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Manila on Tuesday, July 18, that his predecessor did not have to.

“No. Nag-permiso? Hindi naman kailangan. Alam ko naman na pupunta siya. At magkaibigan sila, magkakilala sila (Ask permission? No. He doesn’t need to. I knew he was going. And they are friends, they know each other),” Marcos said, appearing uncomfortable answering the question from the reporter.

The meeting comes as bilateral relations between the Philippines and China have grown tense over what some analysts have called Marcos’ “pivot” back to its longtime ally, the United States.

Marcos has denied that his foreign policy pivots toward the United States, and away from China, preferring to describe his foreign policy as a “balancing” between the two superpowers. (READ: Marcos: We’re not shifting away from China)

“So I hope that napagusapan nila yung mga isyu na ngayon na mga nakikita natin, yung mga ‘shadowing,’ yung mga kung anu-ano. All of these things that we are seeing now I hope napagusapan nila para naman magkaroon tayo ng progress, kasi yun naman talaga ang habol natin e patuloy ang pag-uusap,” said Marcos after the launching of the government’s national food stamp program in Tondo, Manila.

(I hope they discussed the issues we are currently facing, such as the shadowing (in the South China Sea) and everything else. All of these things that we are seeing now, I hope they talked about them so that we can make progress because continuous dialogue is what we really aim for.)

By “shadowing,” Marcos was referring to incidents of Chinese ships closely following – and challenging – Philippine ships in the West Philippine Sea, a territory China claims as theirs.

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” I welcome any new lines of communication. If that is President PRRD [Duterte], then good. It’s not important to me who, what. As long as they can talk to someone, maybe that will help. I am sure that he will have a report. I am sure he will be able to tell us what happened during their conversation and see how that affects us ,” Marcos said.

(That’s why I welcome any new lines of communication. If it’s President PRRD [Duterte], then good. It’s not important to me who or what. As long as they have a conversation, it might be helpful. I am sure that he will have a report. I am sure he will be able to tell us what happened during their conversation and see how that affects us.)

During the meeting on Monday, July 17, Xi told Duterte, who had adopted a pro-China policy during his term, to help promote cooperation between the two countries. (READ: Xi tells ex-Philippine president Duterte to promote ties with China)

“I hope you will continue to play an important role in the friendly cooperation (between China and the Philippines),” Chinese state media quoted Xi as saying on Monday, July 17.

As Marcos continues to strengthen his government’s ties with the United States, Duterte had recently warned against the Philippines of getting caught up in the conflict between the US and China, telling Filipino journalists it could become a “graveyard.” – Rappler.com