MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Tuesday thumbed down the deployment of Philippine Navy warships in the West Philippine Sea to counter China's presence. 

The Philippines “will never be part of an escalation in the situation”, Marcos said. 

“We are not at war, we don't need navy warships,” Marcos said.

"All we are doing is resupplying our fishermen, protecting our territorial rights. Again, it will be provocative and will be seen as an escalation - we don't do that. The Philippines does not escalate tensions. Quite the opposite, the Philippines always tried to bring down the level of tension," he added.

Still, Marcos said the government would "continue to perform our mission" in the West Philippine Sea, he said.

The President's statement came after Manila accused Beijing of deploying Navy ships to shadow Philippine vessels in the Scarborough Shoal. 

According to the Philippine Coast Guard, several Chinese Navy ships were spotted in separate incidents of harassment in Scarborough Shoal and the Bajo de Masinloc.