‘Province of China’ banners a grave affront

CRITICS of the Duterte administration thought they got what they wanted on July 12, the second anniversary of the Philippines’ legal victory in its maritime dispute with China.

Trolls — there is no other appropriate term to describe them — devised a twisted way of reminding

in a United Nations- backed arbitration tribunal, which invalidated on July 12, 2016 China’s socalled nine- dash line that claimed almost the entire South China Sea.

Overnight, tarpaulin banners proclaiming, “Welcome to the Philippines, Province of China,” were

These banners were obviously meant to shame President Rodrigo Duterte for his decision not to insist on the arbitration ruling, in exchange for a return to normalcy in the bilateral relations

went downhill in the previous administration.

It backfired, in our view. If it’s a joke, no one is laughing.

has not surrendered any of its claims on the South

to have the upper hand in terms of the extent of its military presence and island- building.

The public has long understood that the Duterte government is taking a pragmatic and practical, and therefore realistic, approach to the sea dispute, rather than a confrontational and unproductive one.

Filipinos know that Duterte is not exactly the lackey of Chinese President Xi Jinping, as the tarpmakers would like them to believe.

This was shown by the news media’s seemingly negative portrayal of the banners, both in reporting and commentary. Radio anchors, who tend to be critical of the government, all but questioned the

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A stronger stance against China’s militarization of the disputed sea and the Philippines' assertion of its sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea would be ideal.

out to China.

The high approval ratings of the President, moreover, indicate public satisfaction on the overall direction of the Duterte government’s foreign policy, even amid continued distrust in China.

Filipinos may be bitterly divided by partisan politics, but it’s a different matter altogether when the country’s honor is tarnished in such a gratuitous and yes, pedestrian ( pun intended) manner.

These banners have to be called out for what they are — a grave affront to the Philippines and to Filipinos. To add insult to injury, it was done by fellow Filipinos, who apparently would stoop so low as to score a political point.

The public has long understood that the Duterte government is taking a pragmatic and practical, and therefore realistic, approach to the sea dispute.