THE Philippine government maintained that it will not hand over any part of the country’s territory and will continue to assert its maritime claims in the disputed South China Sea.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano made the assurance on Tuesday, August 22, amid reports that Chinese vessels have been recently spotted near Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine (South China) Sea.
Critics have accused Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of having “soft” stance in the maritime issue when the president appeared to have kept the ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the back burner in pursuit of warmer economic ties with China.
In July 2016, the arbitration tribunal at The Hague ruled in favor of the Philippines and concluded that China’s massive claim South China had no legal basis and violates United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The top diplomat noted that the Philippine government, under the Duterte administration, has changed its strategy in dealing with territorial disputes.
Despite this, he assured that the current administration remains firm and will not give up give up the country’s maritime claims.
Cayetano also assured that Beijing is not invading a sandbar located some 2.5 nautical miles off Pag-asa Island.
This, following Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s report that Chinese ships are guarding Sandy Cay, which he described as an “invasion of Philippine territory by China.”
“Let me assure you that despite the lack of details that we give you, we will tell you if there is an alarming station or if the public is in danger or if we are going to take or step up certain actions that needs the public’s support,” Cayetano said.
He assured that reported presence of Chinese vessels near Pag-asa Island has already been “resolved diplomatically.”
“We will tell you that we are taking the diplomatic actions but if we tell you every step of the way and all the facts etcetera, it will not help unless there is something that happened that the public has to know,” he added.
In an earlier statement, Duterte also refuted Carpio’s claim.
“We were not invaded,” the president stressed. “I called the ambassador nung nabasa ko (when I read [the report]). He said: ‘We will assure you that we are not building anything there’.”
A separate claim by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano alleged that China has planted its country flag on a sand cay seven nautical miles off Kota Island located at the West Philippine Sea.
“According to the information that I received, a Chinese flag mounted on a steel pipe was discovered planted on a sand cay located seven nautical miles northeast off Kota Island. It was discovered around third week of July 2017. A Chinese vessel allegedly erected the said 3-meter high Chinese flag on a sand cay which is known to be within a Philippine-controlled area,” Alejano said.
The lawmaker also criticized the Foreign secretary’s so-called “strategy of silence”, urging the department to be more transparent on issues concerning the disputed territories.
He remarked that the DFA doesn’t necessarily have to release all the details, but it still “must release something for the consumption of the public.”
