Press Release - Senator Imee Marcos statement

This conflict is not just days-old but centuries-deep. The struggles of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples deserve equal regard and are beyond the simplistic narrative of good versus evil.

This will be another drawn-out war of global proportions, with no certainty of prompt and peaceful resolution. The foreign policy position we take today will have long-term consequences. Its primary concern should be the safety of nearly 25,000 overseas Filipino workers and the many Filipino tourists and pilgrims now in Israel and of more than two million Filipinos throughout the Middle East and North Africa who may continue earning a living there in years to come.

Our distance from the main arena of conflict will not insulate us from violence. As an ally of the United States, which has committed military support to Israel, we risk retaliatory attacks from militant Hamas sympathizers that a protracted war will likely provoke.

We import practically all of our oil supply from the Middle East. Despite the recent assurance of six OPEC countries to support market stability, we remain vulnerable to the winds of geopolitics.

Our government has a long, complex, and arduous task ahead. May its foreign policy decisions truly uphold Filipino interests now and in the future, informed by a keen sense of current events and the lessons of history.

SENATOR IMEE MARCOS STATEMENT
Re: Posisyon ng Pilipinas sa tunggalian ng Israel at Palestine

Ang gulong ito ay hindi ilang araw pa lang nangyari kundi malalim ang pinagmulan sa daan-daang taon nang nakalilipas. Nararapat na pantay na tingnan ang pakikibaka ng mga Israeli at Palestino, na hindi maaaring ituring na simpleng kwento lang ng laban ng mabuti at masama.

Isa na naman itong matagalang pandaigdigang digmaan na walang kasiguraduhan na may agaran at mapayapang solusyon. Pangmatagalan ang magiging epekto ng ating foreign policy o posisyon sa dayuhang ugnayan. Ang pangunahing layunin ay ang kaligtasan ng halos nasa 25,000 manggagawang Pilipino at mga turistang Pinoy at pilgrims sa Israel ngayon, gayundin ng mahigit sa dalawang milyong Pinoy sa buong Middle East at North Africa na pipiliing ipagpatuloy ang kanilang hanapbuhay doon sa mga