The Philippines says it will go ahead with plans to build defense alliances with the U.S. and its Western allies in a bid to make it possible for the Southeast Asian nation to explore oil-and-gas-rich South China Sea. “I really do think it’s quite urgent that we start now,” Philippine’s Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jnr told Bloomberg News in an interview on Wednesday in his office in Manila, adding that oil exploration is “part of the package” of the country’s strategy to protect its…
