In a televised address, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he would send military vessels into the South China Sea to assert his country’s claims to hydrocarbon and mineral resources in the region, noting such efforts would be “bloody” and result in violence, the South China Morning Post reported April 19. Duterte added that if China began to drill for oil, the Philippines would do the same, but said he did not think deploying the military for disputes over fisheries resources was necessary.