US ally the Philippines has been engaged in years of confrontations with China at sea over disputed areas of the strategic waterway, with repeated incidents occurring in recent months.
Sunday’s statement said that while the armed services were indispensable in documenting incidents, “civilian authority directs the country’s international relations”.
It noted that the 2016 international court verdict that broadly dismissed China’s claims to the South China Sea came via “rigorous legal proceedings under international law, not through public messaging or social media”.
Defence Minister Gilberto Teodoro was banned from visiting China this year, with Beijing citing “irresponsible remarks”.
Chester Cabalza, a Manila-based security analyst, said the foreign ministry had gone public with its message to “assure its counterparts, particularly China, that they are in control of the Philippines’ foreign policy”.
“(The defence department and coast guard) are obliged to carve out the security policy of the country but not its foreign policy. DFA’s statement is an assertion of their role in the bureaucracy.”
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, urged the Philippines in a phone call with counterpart Theresa Lazaro last week to rein in politicians who had “smeared” Beijing and crossed its “red lines”.
Lazaro called the conversation “frank and constructive”, adding that “both sides emphasised the need for continued diplomatic dialogue and the proper management of differences anchored on mutual respect”.
Manila is set to host a major Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit next week, with attendees to include US President Donald Trump and recently re-elected Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Beijing has yet to announce publicly who it will send.
