Pilipinas, walang isusuko
HINDI kailanman isusuko ng Pilipinas ang pinagtatalunang teritoryo sa South China Sea, binigyang-diin muli ni Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. nitong Martes.
“That’s how we are doing it now-- no concessions. We allow no infraction to go unanswered and then we just try to see if we can also cooperate on other fields such as the fact that China is the rising economy in the world,” pahayag ng kalihim sa ginanap na Asia Society webcast.
Nabanggit din niya ang inihahaing mga diplomatic protest ng Pilipinas laban sa bawat hakbang na ginagawa ng China sa South China Sea.
“When I was in the UN (United Nations) I used to say that firing diplomatic protest is like throwing paper on a brick wall but I was told ‘No don’t be like that, it has a significance in international law, once you let one infraction pass then it establishes a bad precedent which gives the world an excuse to yield you to the stronger and richer power.’ You don’t give them an excuse,” pahayag ni Locsin. “And that’s why we have started to build up our, not exactly our Blue Water Navy, but we have enough Corvettes swarming the areas, because that’s the Chinese strategy-- to swarm the areas also with the fishing boats.”
Malinaw, aniya, ang paninindigan ng bansa na protektahan “every inch” ng soberanya at karapatan nito sa West Philippine Sea sa ilalim ng international law at ang “clarified and affirmed” ng 2016 arbitral award.
Sa kanyang naging talumpati sa UN, inihayag mismo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na ang naging hatol, na nagbabasura sa sinasabi ng China na ninedash line sa SCS, ay bahagi na ngayon ng international law at hindi dapat ikompromiso.
“The Philippines won the award with zero help from anybody and with great hindrance from most. It welcomes international support for the award, better late than never, but in no way the Philippines acknowledge that support as adding an iota to the legal stature of the award,” ani Locsin.
Aniya, patuloy ang bansa sa paggamit ng isang dual-track approach sa pakikipagkasundo sa China sa pamamagitan ng paghihiwalay ng usapin sa teritoryo at ekonomikal na pagpapaunlad.