Philippines Marcos Protest

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has denounced China in a veiled rebuke in his state of the nation speech. He vowed on Monday that his government will defend a 2016 arbitration ruling that invalidated Beijing’s expansive claims in the disputed South China Sea, and said that Filipinos “do not yield” to conquerors. On domestic issues, Marcos disclosed that a special anti-graft prosecutor would soon file charges against former House of Representatives Speaker Martin Romualdez, who has been implicated in a corruption scandal that the president exposed in his state of the nation speech last year. He did not identify Romualdez, his cousin, but was obviously referring to him.