DFA fires off another protest vs China
FOREIGN Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. again protested the continued presence of Chinese ships in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) despite Manila’s repeated appeal for them to leave the area.
On Thursday, he ordered the filing of a diplomatic protest against the presence of 287 Chinese naval and militia vessels as reported by the Philippine Coast Guard.
“@DFAPHL fire diplomatic protest. Maybe these idiots will have learned protocol next time. I took this up with the President [Rodrigo Duterte] in Davao,” Locsin said on Twitter.
Locsin, however, admonished the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) for not following protocol when its chairman, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., issued a statement on Wednesday announcing the presence of 287 Chinese vessels in the nation’s territorial waters without informing the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“First NTF-WPS will explain to me why it made a press release and did not inform DFA first,” he said on Twitter.
Locsin — a former newspaper publisher and congressman —s explained that the premature publication “states the fact of alien presence in Philippine territory [and could be construed as possession once again.”
“If the only news is diplomatic protest over alien presence you kill 2 birds with 1 stone: possession and claim of right,” he added.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said the “return” of Chinese maritime militia vessels should be an urgent wake-up call for Filipinos to come up with one strong stand on the issue.
The senator on Thursday said the government should explore other means in addressing the issue, such as parliamentary-toparliamentary channels, to ensure a balance of power in the region.
The chairman of the Committee on National Defense and Security deplored that the “constant bickering among Filipinos will benefit the Chinese government.”
“We are not really surprised. In a way, we even anticipated the return of the Chinese vessels because the vessels that were in the area earlier were most likely just surveying,” Lacson said.
“Their job was to scout the land and not yet occupy. Ngayon nagbalikan na (Now they’re back),” he said in a radio interview.
Asean talks
Sen. Ana Theresia “Risa” Hontiveros had urged the DFA to pursue talks with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) on how to address the prolonged Chinese presence in the WPS.
She said the Philippines should not be the only one demanding China to withdraw its maritime assets.
“The Asean must also take a strong stand [on the matter],” she stressed.
China claims ownership of the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea, based on the “nine-dash-line” principle that was invalidated by the International Tribunal for the Laws of the Sea.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Netherlands upheld the territorial claim of the Philippines and affirmed that China has no historical right over the disputed waters.
China is also in dispute with Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore over parts of the sea based on its invalidated claim.
Maritime police patrol
Philippine National Police chief Guillermo Eleazar also on Thursday said the PNP’s Maritime Group will join law enforcement patrols in the disputed waters.
The Maritime Group will deploy three gun boats and fast boats and four high-speed tactical watercraft to patrol the municipal waters of the municipality of Kalayaan in Palawan and portions of the nation’s exclusive economic zone, or EEZ, in the West Philippine Sea. The augmentation force is scheduled to leave on May 15.
“Despite our limitations when it comes to resources, we will make sure that it will not discourage and prevent us from asserting and fighting for what is ours,” Eleazar said.
Eleazar believes that the presence of more Filipinos on the WPS would send a message that the Philippines strongly asserts its sovereignty and rights.