(Photo courtesy of French Embassy in Manila) MANILA - French Ambassador to the Philippines Michle Boccoz has cited President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s "strong" take on protecting the country's territory, an area she said Paris would like to further increase engagements with Manila. "Obviously, what we took a good note of when listening to the speech is also the very strong position in foreign policy. As I was mentioning, defense and security are one of the areas where we are very much involved in, where we continue to be involved," Boccoz said in a media reception Tuesday. "(S)omething that we noted (is) 'not a square inch of the Philippine territory' being (abandoned) and so the languages are strong. And this is also certainly an area where we've been working together but we can increase and further develop our cooperation." She said the two countries could enhance cooperation in maritime security or reopen discussions on possible joint patrols within the country's exclusive economic zones (EEZ). The patrols were first floated by Rear Admiral Jean-Mathieu Rey, joint commander of the French Armed Forces in the Asia-Pacific, when he visited Manila in March 2022. "That could be aspects of our cooperation that could be reiterated and could be rediscussed with our joint commander of the French Forces in the Pacific," Boccoz said. Marcos received cheers and a standing ovation during his first State of the Nation Address on July 25 when he asserted Manila would not compromise when it comes to the country's territory. He said the Philippines would be a "friend to all, enemy to none" but he "will not preside over any process that will abandon even one square inch of territory of the Republic of the Philippines to any foreign power." In a separate interview, Stratbase ADR Institute President Dindo Manhit said Marcos' stance is a "good sign that we are building on the strength of our arbitral award." "I think we're in the right direction. Now, we need to put some substance and execution because speeches are made to set a direction. How do we execute? That's the next step," he said. (PNA) }