Marcos uses his state of the nation address to vow he will defend the 2016 ruling against China

In his annual state of the nation address on Monday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr said his government would do all that is necessary to uphold the 2016 arbitration ruling that rejected China's claim to most of the South China Sea. He never named China, but the speech followed his summoning of Chinese ambassador Jing Quan after the state-owned China Daily ran animations depicting Filipinos as monkeys. Marcos said Filipinos are not greedy, not racists and not liars, and that they do not yield to conquerors.

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