Phl position on WPS ‘constant and clear’
What is ours is ours under the Arbitral Award and no one else can tell us different
The Philippines has been “constant and clear” with its position on the country’s ownership of the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro
Locsin Jr. reiterated on Thursday,
Locsin responded in a tweet after the Chinese government welcomed President Rodrigo Duterte’s ban on the Philippine Navy to join any maritime drills related to the sea.
We appreciate President Duterte’s remarks and stand ready to properly resolve maritime disputes with the Philippines through friendly consultations to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the ‘South China Sea’ and the entire region.
“What is ours is ours under the Arbitral Award and no one else can tell us different. Our relations have been going really well. Let's keep it that way. We're sitting out this one. Okay?” he tweeted.
He said that Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin was “reading too much” on the simple directive of the President.
“We appreciate President Duterte's remarks and stand ready to properly resolve maritime disputes with the Philippines through friendly consultations to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the 'South China Sea' and the entire region,” Wang said in a Chinese Global Television Network interview.
The Philippines had renamed the South China Sea to WPS.
On the other hand, Locsin told the Department of National Defense (DND) that it should “define properly” its pronouncement of “properly handling this issue” as an interest to both China and the Philippines in terms of establishing “regional peace and stability.”
Our relations have been going really well. Let’s keep it that way. We’re sitting out this one, we don’t know if we will the next one.
Since the 2016 Hague arbitral ruling, the Philippines has continued to push for its ownership of the maritime territory despite China consistently ignoring the decision.
Earlier the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said that the ruling was “illegal and invalid” stating that it will not accept nor participate in the recognized award.