WHILE China is a friend of the Philippines, the country is not giving away even an inch of its territory in the West Philippine Sea to Beijing, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said.
Lorenzana was reacting to Beijing’s militarization of the islets and features in the South China Sea and its latest construction and operation of a maritime rescue center in the Philippines-owned Kagitingan Reef.
“While we recognize China as a bilateral partner for joint ventures and other endeavors, it is worth emphasizing that our territorial sovereignty and integrity, maritime entitlements and rights should not be compromised,” he said.
“We are not compromising them, we are not giving them away,” Lorenzana said, adding that the Philippines “continues to view the Arbitral Tribunal ruling as valid and legitimate. We have not, and we will never surrender any part of our territory.”
The defense chief spoke over the weekend before the alumni and students of the National Defense College of the Philippines based at Camp Aguinaldo, where he admitted that the contending claims in the South China Sea constitute the foremost external security challenge to the country.
As part of its response, the Philippines has issued again its call to China and the other claimant states to finalize and adopt a “valid, binding and mutually acceptable” Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.
In the area of security, Lorenzana said that the military is also maintaining its presence within the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) “and with its limited resources, does its best to safeguard the farthest ends of the country’s territory.”
He continued: “Since it is imperative to secure the national territory, sovereignty and sovereign rights of our country’s maritime claims and entitlements, to include the West Philippine Sea and the Philippine Rise, the AFP is steadfast in performing this constitutional duty.”
Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin Jr. said the country will protest the presence of the maritime rescue center in the Kagitingan Reef, as he backed the belief of Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio that the rescue center and its operations are tantamount to Beijing’s exercise of jurisdiction and sovereignty.
Locsin said he was relying on the military and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. for an official report that would back the protest.
However, instead of coming out with an official report, Esperon issued a statement saying that what should be protested is China’s development of man-made islands in the contested territory that have turned into massive and fortified Chinese bases.