President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. revealed that the territorial claims of China has been a "roadblock" to the oil and gas exploration in the West Philippine Sea.

In an interview in Quezon City on Thursday, Marcos confirmed that the Philippine government had many partners for oil exploration but the negotiation was stopped because of constitutional problems between China and the Philippines.

"What really happened there is that China claims that the area is their territory, but it is really ours. So we are saying that, the Philippines says that the Philippine constitution should be followed, " he said.

"The Chinese were saying 'that it's ours', that is why the Chinese (constitution) should be followed. That is really the roadblock there, it is hard to see how we can fix it," he added.

As he emphasized the urgency for the Philippines to start joint oil and gas exploration in the West Philippines Sea, Marcos said the government is looking for a way to address the problem.

"I think there might be other ways para hindi gawing G2G or I don’t know. We’ll have to find a way kasi kailangan na natin eh. We already need ? kung may mahanap diyan, kailangan na talaga ng Pilipinas. (I think there might be other ways not to make it (government to government transaction) G2G or I don’t know. We'll have to find a way because we already need it," he said.

"It is just a small thing for China. It's a big thing for us. So we really have to fight for and benefit if there is really oil there," he added. Robina Asido/ DMS