Filling up the gap at the southern flank of the first island chain: The role of the Philippines’ Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept

During President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s first official visit to India, he candidly announced what several defense officials, analysts, and military officers had only privately discussed in the Philippines: “If there is an all-out war, we will be drawn into it. We will have to go into Taiwan and bring our people home.”

- RENATO CRUZ DE CASTRO

Firstpost Managing Editor Palki Sharma raised this query during an interview about how the Philippines will respond if China launches an armed invasion of Taiwan. President Marcos Jr. replied that the Philippines “cannot stay out if a conflict breaks out between China and Taiwan,” as his country would be pulled into this armed conflict to “protect 250,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)” earning their living in Taiwan. Several days later, after his arrival to Manila, he repeated what he announced while he was in Delhi: “To be practical about it, if there is confrontation over Taiwan between China and the United States, there is no way that the Philippines can stay out of it because of our geographical location.”

President Marcos Jr. repeated this statement in the face of the Chinese foreign ministry's vicious objection to what he said about what the Philippines would do if China launched its expected armed and forceful unification with Taiwan. The President's bold statement about the Philippines’ role in a Taiwan contingency reflects his nation’s concern about the fate of hundreds of thousands of Filipinos working in this island republic. It also indicates his administration’s recognition of the tyranny of geography.