 Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, Ambassadors, Senators, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the State Library of Victoria for this very special Lowy Institute event and addressed by the 17th President of the Philippines, His Excellency Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. And indeed, Mr. President, let me welcome you back to Melbourne, this great city of ideas and culture I know you and your family have been here before, so welcome back. Let me acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather today, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung. I pay my respects to their elders. I'm Michael Fully Love and I'm the Executive Director of the Lowy Institute. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's an important week in Australia. It's an honour for our country to be hosting so many South-East Asian leaders for this ASEAN Australia Special Summit. For half a century, Australia and ASEAN have been dialogue partners. I'm pleased that the Australian government is investing so much energy in a region that is so important to Australia due both to its economic weight and its strategic geography. Mr. President, at the Lowy Institute, we regard this event as a very significant occasion for two reasons. First, because we believe the relationship between Australia and the Philippines is highly consequential. There is a long history of solidarity between Australians and Filipinos. Australians helped to liberate the Philippines during the Second World War. In the decades that followed, Australians and Filipinos have been brothers in arms in many difficult times. Many of us in Australia have Filipino-Australian friends and family. Many of us have been the beneficiaries of the generosity of spirit of Filipino people. The Philippines and Australia are two democracies, both strong and free, that share the aim of keeping our region secure, peaceful and prosperous. And in the past two years, the connection between our countries has quickened. We saw this last year in the strategic partnership hosted by the President and Prime Minister Albanese and indeed in our first ever joint naval patrol conducted last year. One symbol of how close this relationship has become is that this is actually the President's second visit to Australia in a week. Last week, he had his remarkably successful visit to Canberra and he is now back in Melbourne for this special summit. I think you may be the first world leader in history, Mr. President, to visit Australia twice in a couple of days. We are a long way away, so you do deserve a round of applause for that. The second reason that we've been looking forward to this event is that in the period since his election in 2022, President Marcos has emerged as one of the most interesting, influential and closely watched leaders in Southeast Asia. Many of us watched your address to the parliament last week, Mr. President, and I'm very much looking forward to your remarks today. If there's anyone who thinks that individuals don't matter in politics, I'd invite them to look at the changes in the Philippines in the past 18 months, in particular the way that Manila has become so much more determined to defend its sovereignty. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm now very pleased to call on the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, Richard Miles, to introduce President Marcos. Mr. Miles has served in the Australian parliament for nearly 17 years. Over that period, he served as a parliamentary secretary, as trade minister, and since the election of the Albanese government in 2022, he has served as both deputy prime minister and minister for defence. The defence portfolio is a difficult job at any time, but it is even more trying in the current strategic circumstances. So thank you, Richard, for your service and Deputy Prime Minister, let me invite you to the lectern to introduce President Marcos. Well, thank you, Michael, and can I also start by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation and pay my respects to elders past and present. In acknowledging the many dignitaries here, can I just highlight my cabinet colleague, Don Farrell, and his wife, Nympha, it's great to see you here and through him acknowledge all my fellow members of parliament. And could I also single out the Filipino ambassador to Australia, Helen de la Vega, and the Australian ambassador to the Philippines, HKU, both of them are sitting there together. In your collective hands, our bilateral relationship is safely guarded, so it's great to see you both here today. And of course, it is my enormous honour and privilege to be here this evening, introducing Ferdinand Marcos Jr, the President of the Philippines, who is here tonight with his wife, Liza, and it is great to see you. As Michael said last, for those of us in the Commonwealth Parliament last Thursday, we had the opportunity of being the beneficiaries of a wonderful speech from President Marcos. And since then, as Michael said, he has been back to the Philippines, down to the southern Philippines, and then back to Australia, which is no mean feat to participate in this week's meetings, which celebrate the 50th anniversary of Australia being a dialogue partner of ASEAN. I first met President Marcos just over a year ago at the Malacanang Palace in Manila. It is a beautiful building, which today hosts government meetings. And after a very warm and productive bilateral, I asked the President whether this was in fact the place where he grew up. He said to me it was, and then asked if I would like to go on a little tour. And with delight, that was an invitation which I eagerly accepted. And it was an example of how the President is disarmingly down to earth, but also it is a reminder that from his very earliest days, the President has been a witness to the history of his nation. And, of course, later on, he has been a key actor in it. In 2022, on his own election to the presidency, President Marcos received a popular vote of 58%, which is one of the largest mandates in the history of the Philippines. And he had particularly large support from young people, because it turns out that President Marcos is massive on TikTok. President Marcos has 1.6 million followers. Now, to put that in context, Kylie Minogue has 400,000 followers. Zhuang Football Club has 200,000. And when the Labor Party last posted a post involving me, I had a grand total of 10 likes. So the President is certainly doing something that is deeply impressive to me. On his election to the presidency, he was immediately interested in education, a passion which he shares with his wife, Liza. Agriculture has been central to President Marcos' political mission. Going right back to his days as the governor of Ilocos Norte province back in the 90s, when he was able to see that province become self-sufficient in rice production. And unusually, but very significantly, he spore himself in as the first agriculture secretary of his own presidential administration. Emerging from the pandemic, a key focus for President Marcos has been his economy. And being very proactive on that as we began this year, inflation was reducing. And in terms of economic growth, there was no stronger economy than the Philippines in Southeast Asia. And in defence, we have seen a sea change, a shift in strategic focus from an understandable historic concentration on counter-terrorism to building capabilities for the armed forces of the Philippines, which have a focus on external capability. And it's here that we are seeing a blossoming in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the Philippines. Just over a year ago, when I was in the Philippines, we announced that we would be doing joint patrols with the Filipino Navy. And the first of those occurred in November. In August of last year, President Marcos and I witnessed an amphibious landing that was undertaken by both of our defence forces at Zambellos, which was as part of Exercise Alon, which was the largest exercise that Australia participated in beyond our shores in 2023. And that says something about the significance that we now place on our bilateral relationship with the Philippines. As to island trading nations, we are deeply invested in freedom of navigation, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea on the global rules-based order. And so a relationship, which has had a long history of people-to-people links, now has at its core a very significant strategic dimension. That's why it is fair to say that as we gather tonight, the relationship, the bilateral relationship between our two countries has never been more significant, has never been deeper. And in President Marcos, Australia has a dear and valued friend. And so it is my enormous privilege tonight to introduce to you, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the President of the Philippines. Well, thank you very much to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, the Honourable Richard Miles for his very kind introduction. Dr. Fuliland for the invitation to speak here at Lowy. The Minister for Trade and Tourism's Senator, the Honourable Don Farrell, the Senator of the Honourable Simon Birmingham, Shadow Foreign Minister, Secretary Manalo, Ambassador de la Vega, and the friends at the Lowy Institute. Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. I thank the Lowy Institute for this opportunity to share my views on the Philippines' perspective on these so-called great power rivalries and to speak to some of the brightest strategic minds in Australia, a country that the Philippines holds in high regard. The Philippines and Australia are maritime democracies bound by meaningful commonalities. As the oldest democracies in the Pacific, our respective strategic perspectives and actions are grounded in our shared values. As pioneers of the post-war international order, we have an enduring commitment to upholding the rule of law, justice, and equity in international affairs. When I addressed the Parliament of Australia last week, I had the opportunity to reflect upon our shared history, our present bonds, and our common aspirations for the future. Our respective histories and identities and our similar but separate perspectives demonstrate that there exists in the region and indeed across the world a multiplicity of actors, each with its own distinct interests and aspirations. The Lowy Institute understands having devoted much energy to discerning the multiple strategic calculations that motivate the various actors in this region and to measure the capabilities through the Asia power index. But this does not seem to be clear to all. There are those who continue to see regional developments solely from the narrow prism of great power rivalries. There are those who reduce these developments for a regional digression towards outdated Cold War paradigms. And there are those who see in these developments a potential return to the hierarchical international system of centuries past. The Philippines of course understands that widening geopolitical polarities around the world and the sharpening strategic competition between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America have become a reality permeating the regional strategic environment. But we caution against overemphasizing this reality. Such an due emphasis tends to subsume the legitimate rights and interests of countries like the Philippines, Australia, and other Ashen member states into the interest of the so-called major countries as if we are mere pawns with no strategic agency. It also obscures our judgment. It distracts us from calling out aggressive, unilateral, illegal, and unlawful actions for what they are, attacks against the rule of international law, and the principles of the charter of the United Nations. Indeed, there are those who sometimes justify such provocations under the pretext of geopolitics and mischaracterize the remedies availed of by the aggrieved as mere tactics in this grand strategic game. If we are to successfully navigate the treacherous waters brought about by this recent geopolitical flux, we need to clarify and we need to have foresight. The future of this region will be shaped not by one or two, but by many actors, and they will each demand that their voices be heard individually and collectively, as indeed they should be. Thus, the Philippines begins any conversation regarding great power competition with a strong rejection of any subordination of our distinct national interest and denial of our sovereignty and strategic agency. Ladies and gentlemen, we acknowledge the undeniable importance of the People's Republic of China and the United States of America, sorry, to the security situation and the economic evolution of this region and of the world. We must deal with both of them constructively. Along with Australia, the Philippines is the oldest treaty ally of the United States in Asia. We forge this alliance by our own choice and we continue to strengthen it by our own choice. Our alliance has been a pillar of regional stability for decades and we all need for it to continue to be a force for good in the coming years. It is rooted in long history, built upon shared values and strengthened by mutual respect as equal and sovereign partners. At the same time, centuries of friendship and kinship bind the Filipino and Chinese people. We pursue with the People's Republic of China comprehensive strategic cooperation founded on mutual respect and mutual benefit. Our independent foreign policy compels us to cooperate with them on matters where our interests align to respectfully disagree on areas where our views differ and to push back when our sworn principles such as our sovereignty, our sovereign rights and our jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea are questioned or ignored. In this specific context, all of the South China Sea our interests are clear. They lie in ensuring that the universal and unified character of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS and in the final and binding determinations of the South China Sea arbitration award of 2016 are firmly and consistently upheld. It is unfortunate that despite the clarity provided by international law, provocative, unilateral and illegal actions continue to infringe upon our sovereignty, our sovereign rights, our jurisdictions. This pattern of aggression obstructs our path towards ASEAN's vision of the South China Sea as a sea of peace, stability, and of prosperity. As a country committed to the cause of peace and the peaceful settlement of disputes, the Philippines continues to tread the path of dialogue and diplomacy despite these serious difficulties. We will continue to engage China bilaterally and through ASEAN-led mechanisms to address our differences at sea. We are determined to make our bilateral mechanisms with China work and we will leverage our bilateral mechanisms with other claimant states towards the peaceful management of disputes. Our adherence to the 2002 ASEAN-China Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea remains steadfast and so is our commitment to working with ASEAN and China towards an effective and substantive code of conduct that finds its moorings in UNCLOS and respects the interests of all stakeholders, including Australia. And yet these efforts are not pursued in a vacuum. A conducive environment where tensions are effectively managed is crucial to the success of the COC negotiations. We shall never surrender even a square inch of our territory and our maritime jurisdiction. In this regard we are upgrading the capabilities of our Coast Guard, pursuing the modernization of our armed forces and earlier this year I approved the updated acquisition plan of the armed forces of the Philippines called Re Horizon 3 in line with our comprehensive archipelagic defense concept. Our forces must be able to guarantee to the fullest extent possible Filipino nationals, Philippine corporations and those authorized by the Philippine government, unimpeded and peaceful exploration and exploitation of all natural resources in areas where we have jurisdiction, including and especially our exclusive economic zone in accordance with international law. Philippine agencies, forces and institutions are working to strengthen our capabilities. We are on the front line of international efforts to preserve, defend and uphold the rules-based international order, the same platform from which the post-war Asian economic miracles took off and upon which the continued prosperity of countries like Australia relies. Ladies and gentlemen, we in the Indo-Pacific cannot ignore the existential impact of great power rivalries upon the survival of our peoples and our communities. Amidst the alarming reversal of the historic trend of decreasing nuclear stockpiles in the region, we must remember that the tragic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use were born by peoples of this region, the hibakusha of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the victims of nuclear tests in the Pacific. It is time to bring Indo-Pacific issues to the fore of global conversations on nuclear disarmament. The People's Republic of China and the United States must engage in meaningful dialogue to maintain strategic stability and to limit any nuclear arms buildup. The Philippines and Australia, along with Japan, are at the forefront of efforts to reduce nuclear risk in the region. These nuclear risks demonstrate the need for great powers to manage their strategic competition in a responsible manner. We in the Indo-Pacific must ensure that great powers do not treat the world as an arena for their competition. The pursuit of the great powers' respective strategic goals must never come at the expense of the interests of smaller states nor of regional and international peace. At the same time, we must also put things into their proper perspective. Great power rivalries constitute only one of several storms that render turbulent the waters that confront humanity's common journey at this crucial juncture. In addition to widening geopolitical polarities and sharpening strategic competitions, we are also confronted with uncertainties posed by transformative technologies and the existential threat of climate change. Even as persistent inequities and inequalities within and among our nations remain unresolved. Amidst challenging global tides, we remain convinced that the only ballast stabilizing our common vessel is the rules-based international order. The Philippines and Australia, along with many other nations, fought a world war to build this rules-based architecture and have mistakenly reinforced this architecture one brick at a time throughout the last century from the onset and through the aftermath of the Cold War. So, for the Philippines, our continuing commitment to this architecture reflects our history of upholding human dignity and promoting peace and is premised on four strategic considerations. First, this rules-based order is the best guarantee for the sovereignty equality of all states regardless of size. Second, the predictability and stability that it engenders provides an enabling environment for us to pursue our national ambition that every Filipino should have a stable secure and comfortable life by 2040. Third, it provides a credible legal regime that guarantees just and just inequitable access by all states to the global commons and to all frontiers that could lead to sustainable development. This includes the high seas, outer space, cyberspace, as well as peaceful uses of science and technologies. Fourth, it enables states to galvanize effective international action to confront challenges that no one nation can successfully tackle on their own, including the existential threat of climate change and the uncertainties posed by the as yet unrealized transformative technologies that are becoming available to us. To safeguard these four enablers of global peace and development, we need to build resilience. We need resilient diplomatic and global governance and governance structures that can withstand geopolitical shocks. These structures must be grounded in international law, in which all nations seek balance and strength. They must remain credible providers of global goods and meaningful venues for nations to pursue common ground and decisive and equitable solutions to global and regional problems. At the international level, building such resilience entails continued engagement and active leadership by middle powers that have the capacity to reach across political and ideological lines, forge genuine consensus and lead credible efforts towards decisive multilateral solutions. At the regional level, this means continued centrality of ASEAN in the regional architecture and active engagement by all stakeholders in ASEAN-led mechanisms. We must also build economic resilience against future uncertainties. We need to ensure that our economies remain powerful tools that positively shape the lives of our people and ensure the sustainability of the planet. We expect Australia's Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 that will build on the new ASEAN-Australia New Zealand free trade agreement and the regional comprehensive economic partnership. We welcome with growing interest in Australia to explore further pursue investment opportunities in the Philippines, which is projected to lead ASEAN's growth this year, having managed to outpace major Asian economies with a solid growth rate of 5.6% last year. At the heart of regional economic progress lies economic interdependence. As nations engage in mutually beneficial trade and investment, they become stakeholders in each other's success. Yet the Philippines also understands concerns regarding the strategic risks that integration entails. So amid stocks of decoupling and de-risking, what we see is resilience to such risks. I am therefore of the view that securing strategic sectors and critical infrastructure is critical to our security and our development. Securing our nations entails securing our economies and enhancing the resilience of our supply chains. In our bilateral plan of action with Australia, we committed to work together to further develop capacities in critical infrastructure, security, particularly in transport and in telecommunications. We will also broaden cooperation on mineral resources, development, energy transition, and space science and technology applications. Last week, we signed an agreement on cyber and critical technology cooperation that will promote the secure and peaceful uses of cyberspace. Beyond our bilateral partnerships, we see value in building resilience too through reinforced habits of cooperation amongst like-minded partners in specific areas. Our trilateral cooperation with Malaysia and Indonesia in curbing piracy in the Sulusi and the Celebesi is one such example. We intend to foster new arrangements to promote maritime security and freedom of navigation, amongst others, through other similar trilateral and multilateral formats. We share this thinking with Australia, which has been at the forefront of efforts to forge security arrangements with like-minded states, including AUKUS. We are clearly of the mind that AUKUS will enhance regional stability, while respecting Asian centrality and adhering to the highest standards of transparency in accordance with a nuclear non-proliferation treaty. Finally, no talk of resilience is complete without the consideration of climate change. This is a deadly challenge that threatens the very survival of millions, especially those in the small island developing states in the Pacific. The Filipino people share this vulnerability with our kin in the Pacific Island states. For us, the time to talk about ifs and whens has long since passed. It is here, and it is now. We expect responsible states and partners to do more, and they must do that now. We will continue to pursue just and equitable climate action in all our multilateral engagements, including in the context of the loss and damage fund board. Developed countries have a responsibility to support vulnerable countries in climate adaptation and mitigation. We will also continue to pursue our climate action strategy, a pillar of which is our robust commitment to adjust energy transition. Ladies and gentlemen, we must not lose sight of our collective responsibility for peace and resilience in the Indo-Pacific. Our work is about people and about communities, their security, their survival, their dignity, and their future. It is about inclusion and equal regard to the interests of all nations, not just a few. It thrives on cooperation, not geopolitical contests, and it cannot progress without a stable and predictable order based on the rule of international law. We must not allow this so-called great power rivalry to distract or kinder us from the pursuit of peace and development. Boyd by one of the fastest growing economies in the region, the Philippines pledges to continue acting responsibly in line with our increasing potential as we inevitably rise in global standing. We embrace our role in the region and in the world with a sense of purpose and dedication. We cannot be observers. But active participants, catalysts for innovation, architects for a better future, we in the Philippines stand committed to promoting peace and prosperity in our region. We aspire to live peacefully with all our neighbors and continue to believe that the successes of all our regional partners contribute to our own success, as does our success contribute to the region. Together with our friends, especially our allies and strategic partners, we will face the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead confident in our ability to create a safe, a stable, and secure future that celebrates diversity, mutual respect, and collective progress. Thank you all very much for this great opportunity to share with you some of the thoughts and perspectives from the Philippines. Well, Mr. President, thank you very much. Thank you for, first of all, thank you for paying the audience the compliment of giving a speech that was substantive, that was direct, and that was memorable, and a speech that will be closely read in capitals around the world. Thank you for plugging the Asia Power Index, my colleagues at the Lowy Institute appreciate that. And thank you for agreeing to take some questions from me and also from our audience. Let me start by asking you about the theme of sovereignty and territorial integrity. In your speech today, you said you talked about actions in your part of the world that were provocative, unilateral, and unlawful. And you said, we shall never surrender even one square inch of our territory and maritime jurisdiction. And last week in your speech to the parliament, you sounded that theme too. You said, as in 1942, the Philippines now finds itself on the front line. And you said, the challenges that we face may be formidable, but equally formidable is our resolve. We will not yield. Now, these are powerful words. And the world has noticed how you have been more assertive than your predecessor in countering Chinese actions to block your fishermen from accessing their fishing grounds to intimidate Filipino maritime forces. Why is this so important to you? Why have you taken this stance? Well, I took an oath. And then in that oath, I, the oath is to support and defend the constitution of the Republic of the Philippines. And the first article of our constitution is the definition of our territory, maritime and otherwise. And these have been validated over very many years. The original definition, actually, of our boundaries were laid out on the Treaty of Paris after the Spanish-American War. And since then, we have been, that definition, if you want to call it that, has been validated by many actions by, for example, the United States, by UNCLOS in the baseline agreement that we have had. And it has been recognized as the sovereign territory of the Philippines. And therefore, it was not, in my view, when I came into office, we simply have no choice. We must defend the territory of the Republic. And that is a primordial duty of a leader. And that's why we have taken a strong, very strong position in that we cannot allow a unilateral decision made by some foreign capital far away to somehow amend or to change those definitions in terms of our territory. So what we will do, whatever it takes to maintain that situation, wherein it is very, very clear that the territorial integrity of the Philippines cannot be threatened. And if threats are made, then we must defend against those threats. And it's, for me, it's almost, as I said, it's not a matter of, it wasn't a matter of policy choice. It is the duty that I took on when I came into office. And that's, I continue to see it that way. And I think that every Filipino sees it that way. And they depend and they expect their leaders to fulfill that duty, to be true to their oath, to defend the Republic and its territory and its people. Let me ask you more broadly about the People's Republic of China. What kind of neighbor would you like to pay our say to be? Well, until the declaration of the changes now of territorial definitions, we had very, we still have friendly relations with China, but these issues never arose. And I would not mind very much at all if we could return to that same situation now, where we deal with each other as neighbors and we deal with each other and help one another. But the Philippines was the first country in Asia to foster diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. That agreement was signed in 1976. And I happened to have been part of the original delegation in 1974. It was an unofficial delegation, but it was an invitation from then Premier and Foreign Minister Shou and Lai. And it was to open the discussions on having diplomatic relations with China because we see, we recognized immediately that China is an important neighbor, is an important partner, and that we must deal with such an important neighbor and such an important partner. The relations that we have with China go back way beyond 1976. They go way beyond that for centuries. We have been trading with China. The evidence, the archaeological evidence shows that we have been trading with China for about 600 years now. And there are very few, if we are to examine DNA, there are very few Filipinos with no Chinese DNA. My family actually makes much of the fact that we were actually, we have within our family tree, an infamous Chinese pirate who used to operate within the waters of then the South China Sea. So that cannot be discounted. And that has always been a part of our thinking as we look to China. But however, I suppose the modern world has brought about different forces, brought about different policies that they have undertaken. But it is, of course, every country's prerogative to define what their policies will be. But I think that even the powers that be will understand that it is, as I said, our duty to continue to defend the sovereignty of the Republic of the Philippines, its territories, its sovereignty, its sovereign rights, its people and its territory. All right. Let me ask you about a different relationship that between the Republic of the Philippines and the United States of America. And again, there's been a change under your presidency, a greater openness and warmth, I would say, towards Washington and some changes in terms of access to bases and so on. What kind of a role do you want to see Washington playing in the Indo-Pacific? Well, I think what the Americans are doing in the Asia Pacific right now is really a reaction to the developments in terms of the approach that China has taken as regards to, again, territorial rights. We have a very special relationship with the United States. Well, actually, there are only two countries with which we have a visiting forces agreement. Number one is the United States. The second one is Australia. But with the United States, we have had for decades now, for decades past, a mutual defense treaty. And the agreement in that mutual defense treaty is that a declaration of war to one country is a declaration of war to the other. And that has maintained. And that has been there since very soon after the Second World War. And I think that role, we maintain that role for the Americans. And I think that it still serves as a stabilizing force somehow. And it still manages to be a force for the good. We need for it to continue to be a force for the good. We cannot allow it to overtake, as I said in my remarks, to overtake what are the essential priorities of the Philippines. And I've always wanted to make it clear because there is a narrative out there that is going around that we are at the back end call practically of the United States when it comes to these foreign policy decisions, especially surrounding the South China Sea. But let me make it very, very clear. The Philippines acts for its own interests. And the decisions that we make when it comes to foreign policy are decisions that we make because we believe and are convinced and know that it is in the national interest. It is not the policy that has been foisted upon us by any country. It is something that we have come to on our own. It is a conclusion that we have arrived at by ourselves. And we have acted upon those conclusions that we have made. So it really goes back to a rejection by the Philippines of the a regression into the old bipolar Cold War formula, wherein the smaller countries such as the Philippines were basically forced into choosing. You choose to be with the United States over the Soviet Union. And in a way it was a simpler time and it was easier perhaps for countries to make that decision. That is no longer relevant. That no longer applies. The world has turned very, very many times since then. And we define our foreign policy really very simply. Our foreign policy is grounded and anchored on the continuing promotion and work for peace and the continuing promotion and work for the national interest of the Philippines. That is what guides us. That is the principle that we follow. And I think it is the right one. Let me ask you about the theme that you were just discussing. And that is the rights and prerogatives of smaller countries in the region. The powerful point I think you are making in your remarks today is that we can't shrink Asia to the dimensions of great power competition between the United States and China. That there are many countries in our region and all of us deserve a place in the sun and none of us wants to live in the shadow of one big country. You said that we need to be active participants not observers. Do you think other countries in the region are rising to that challenge? Are they being active participants in international relations or are they simply observing the great power competition? Well if we are talking about Asia, Asia and Indo-Pacific as well, I cannot think of an example where people are just standing idly by and watching events go on evolve without taking any action. Because the world being what it is now so interconnected it is impossible to find a global event or a national international event no matter where it is that does not affect you, your country, your people. Just as a simple example when Russia entered Ukraine we in the Philippines were saying well that's not a good development but it shouldn't be it shouldn't affect us at all. It's very far away. We were quite mistaken thinking that because within weeks the effects of for example the fertilizer prices, the loss of the supply chains, the interruptions in the supply chains, suddenly our economies greatly suffered from that. Again when the attack on October 7th Hamas into Israel again you said well neither of them are oil producing so it shouldn't bother the oil prices which is something of course we all look out to see what the trends are and we were once again mistaken because yes Gaza does not produce any oil neither does Israel but the implications of that increasing conflict has now hit all of us because of what's happening in the Red Sea, what's happening in the rest of the Middle East, what's happening between Iran and the United States. So it would be foolish for any country to just be a passive observer. If we are to truly attend to the interests of our countries and our people we must be engaged, we must be part of the discussion and we must hopefully be part of the solution. I'm going to ask you one more question and then I'm going to give the audience or a couple of members of the audience an opportunity to put a question to you. Let me ask you about Australia and AUKUS because you made a point of mentioning AUKUS and you said AUKUS will enhance regional stability. Why do you think that's the case? Why are you pro AUKUS and what sort of role in the India-Pacific do you want to see Australia playing? Well I think it follows just a very simple basic principle that a coalition has because it has a larger base it's a much more it's much more robust in resisting any kind of unilateral move by any other country and AUKUS being another one of these partnerships or alliances that have been formed I think strengthens strengthens the position of Asia of ASEAN of the Indo-Pacific if we are once we are confronted with challenges and threats and that's why for our part in the Philippines as president I have tried very hard to foster those partnerships and those alliances because we need for example I hold very great hope for ASEAN to be to be a central a central player when it comes to resolving those issues we cannot the Philippines we know we cannot we cannot resolve this alone we know that we cannot do this by ourselves we need the synergy that's provided by these alliances and partnership and it in a way I it's a good thing that it seems to be the general consensus about amongst ASEAN member states and ASEAN member ASEAN countries and when I say ASEAN countries I now include Australia I have included always Australia in that discussion that is the general consensus that this is the best way to maintain the peace it is the best way to maintain stability to keep the South China Sea as a peaceful and vibrant part of international trade and continue with our transformation into the new post pandemic global economy all right fabulous let me take a couple of questions from the audience if you would like to ask a question put your hand up right now please wait till a mic till you get the call and wait for a microphone to come then I'm going to ask you to ask a brief question rather than making a statement and tell us your name and affiliation I saw this this lady on the edge yes madam thank you very much and very much appreciated your honesty and clarity of thinking it's a great honor to hear you speak my name is Paula Giles just a independent member of the public I was just curious whether you saw a future for ASEAN to be similar to NATO that one person's aggression of one state would also trigger a response by the other states as a potential future is ASEAN well ASEAN we this is something of course as we have tried to to look at and you we have to also recognize that despite the fact that we are a very long-standing political agrupation geopolitical agrupation in ASEAN there are very many there there are clearly commonalities and that's why we have come together in under under the umbrella of ASEAN nonetheless there are many differences as well and the the approach that each country takes is informed by their own particular needs and concerns and that that makes that complicates that complicates the the ability for ASEAN to come up with a single central position or statement of position of position and it's not something that I we we must not if we are if we feel that they have not been robust enough in their support and the calls for for more action then but we we we should not really begrudge them that because they are they each state has its own interest what we are looking for is simply a very simple foundation and that is the rule of law umklos and I think if we just abide by that that is sufficient that is sufficient every country has has has all kinds of arrangements with the People's Republic the Philippines as well now let me not exclude the Philippines from that certainly we we too there are great many Chinese investments in the Philippines there are great many Chinese nationals in the Philippines there are great many what we now refer to as Chinese Filipinos who were born in China uh so the these these impact everything that the Philippines is is is doing but in like fashion it impacts what every other country in ASEAN is also doing I saw this lady in the middle of the third row if you just wait for microphone madam good afternoon mr president good afternoon and um your visit to both Canberra and Melbourne really signifies your commitment to strengthen the bilateral relations between Filipinos in Australia and we admire your strong foreign policy now my question is what would be your message to Filipino Australians in Australia and the Philippines to actually deepen those people to people links on a granular level well I would I would really just start uh such any response to that by saying that the uh our our nationals um who have come to work and live the 400 000 now who have come to work and live in the in in Australia have done us proud and uh the the uh raising of our relationship to a strategic partnership I think it's just almost an evolution of what our OFWs uh that we refer to them as OFW overseas Filipino workers uh the OFWs in Australia and the very close uh the the very fine relationship that they have come uh to to have with uh with Australians and so all of these all of these uh more shall we say formalized agreements that we are doing with Australia now are really based on that uh the people to people relationship that has been established by by Filipinos in Australia we could I don't not think that if the if if the Filipinos came to Australia and committed crimes and were uh were were were not they were not contributing to society or to their community or would not assimilate into their communities then we could not do this um but we we we you the Filipinos in Australia have in fact managed to do that and that's why we have the ability now to come to Australia and say look this is what we are doing without what our people are already doing with each other so we might as well formalize it and there are now new challenges that we need to uh to address and uh we can build that's what we build upon and so if there is a message to Filipinos in Australia thank you thank you very much for burnishing the image of the Philippines in Australia keep up the good work ladies and gentlemen I know there are others who want to ask questions but we run out of time this afternoon President Marcos thank you again for speaking to us um it was a rare privilege to hear from you I've learned a lot um tonight including uh the the value of clear thinking but also I did not know that you had a pirate in your ancestry and I might say that it sounds more fun and romantic for you to have a pirate in yours than the convict I have in mind so I'm sure it wasn't fun at that time he was his name was Limahong I think many many people from the Philippines and China know know of him a notorious pirate from who used to operate around the northern Philippines right that's where we come from our family comes from so he must have landed one day and yeah these days of course we're against piracy in in the region but um Mr President we hope that your meetings over the next day or two are fruitful let me just say I know you were in Canberra last week you're in Melbourne this week if you happen to be in Sydney next week please come and visit us at the Lowy Institute ladies and gentlemen please join me in thanking President Marcos thank you thank you very much