Senate to probe China’s militarization in Spratlys

After prodding by the Senate minority bloc, the Senate foreign relations committee will finally hold a public hearing on the controversial militarization by China of parts of the Spratly island chain legally owned by the Philippine government.

“I welcome the call for the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to conduct a public hearing on the government’s policy towards China. I agree that the Senate, as an independent body, should assert our role in helping shape the government’s foreign policy,” declared Sen. Loren Legarda, committee chairwoman.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon had said it is up to the Legarda committee to assert the right of the Senate to conduct public hearings on foreign policy issues since the Upper House is the partner of the Executive branch on foreign policy matters.

Earlier, Sen. Gregorio B. Honasan II, chairman of the Senate national defense and security committee, had said his committee is willing to become Legarda’s secondary committee should she call a public hearing on issues related to China’s refusal to accept a decision of the United Nations (UN) Arbitration Court rejecting its historical claim over parts of the South China Sea.

Both Legarda and Honasan are members of the Senate majority bloc.

Opposition Sen. Riza Hontiveros, a member of the Senate minority bloc, had also asked Legarda to conduct a public hearing on the militarization of parts of the Spratlys and the confiscation by elements of the Chinese Coast Guard of the meager fish catch of Filipino fishermen at the Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal.

The Shoal is more than 200 nautical miles west off Zambales or more than 700 nautical miles east off Hainan, the easternmost territory of mainland China.

There are two Senate resolutions, PSR 722 and PSR 723, on the China issue that have been transferred to Legarda’s committee.

“We will soon conduct a public hearing and I will work with my colleagues, including the Committee on National Defense and Security, in determining how best to support current initiatives to diffuse the tension, while at the same time protecting our sovereignty and territorial rights,” Legarda said.

Yesterday in Quezon province, Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chairperson on Senate Committee on Agriculture and Food, said the government must protect our fishermen and their catch in Scarborough Shoal.

Speaking at the 71st commencement exercises of Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation, Villar said she will take the lead in tackling the issue and draw a stand on behalf of Filipino fishermen upon the resumption of Senate in July. (With a report from Danny J. Estacio)