(Bloomberg) -- Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his country needs to do more than just filing diplomatic protests against China, following the latest confrontation in the South China Sea. 

The Philippines has summoned the Chinese envoy in Manila “many times” and has filed over 100 protests and demarches to object to Chinese actions in the disputed waters, Marcos said Thursday. “We have to do more than just that,” he said, without elaborating.

The nation’s Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Wednesday said his agency has sent a diplomatic note to China on the June 17 encounter between Chinese and Philippine vessels that led to a Filipino sailor losing a finger.

Marcos said the incident was not an armed attack that may trigger a defense treaty with the US.

“Although there were no arms involved, nonetheless, it is still a deliberate action and it is essentially an illegal action that was taken by the Chinese forces,” Marcos said.

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