PRESIDENT Duterte on Tuesday issued a stern warning to foreign vessels passing through Philippine waters without clearance from the government, saying the Philippines could go as far as enforcing the order in an “unfriendly manner.”
Presidential Spokesman and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo said all foreign vessels must first get the clearance from the proper government authority before their actual passage.
“To avoid misunderstanding in the future, the President is putting on notice that beginning today [Tuesday], all foreign vessels passing our territorial waters must notify and get clearance from the proper government authority well in advance of the actual passage. Either we get a compliance in a friendly manner or we enforce it in an unfriendly manner,” Panelo said in a statement.
This comes after a Chinese coast guard vessel was spotted by the military in Ayungin Shoal, which is within the Philippines’s exclusive economic zone.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. also said that he has also ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to lodge a diplomatic protest over the intrusion of Chinese warships in the country’s waters. Appearing before the Senate foreign relations panel on Monday, he said the government will keep lodging protests as often as intrusions are made.
Locsin said he received a report from Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on repeated intrusions of Chinese warships in waters well within the Philippine territory.
Sought for clarification on what the Palace means by “unfriendly manner,” Panelo told reporters: “We’re saying that we will enforce it in an unfriendly manner, by that it means that we will ask them to move, to move out of the place. That’s unfriendly. Because before we never said anything, we just allowed them and just made protests. But this time we will tell them please get out of our territory.”
He also clarified, though, that the government will not use military force in the meantime.
Moreover, the Palace also said it does not see the President’s order on foreign vessels leading to a war with China, which the President had said he meant to avoid.
Based on Lorenzana’s report, the Chinese warships passed through Philippine territory at Sibutu Strait in Tawi-Tawi last August and twice more in July, at all times without giving prior notice to Philippine authorities.
Recto weighs in
Meanwhile, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto backed President Duterte’s directive requiring foreign ships to seek permission to transit in any part of Philippine territory.
“The President is in the right in directing foreign ships who will sail on our seas to ask clearance from proper government authority well in advance of the actual passage,” Recto said Tuesday.
In a statement, the Senate leader pointed out that if domestic ships are required to file in advance the course they will take, “then why should we exempt foreign ships from doing the same?”
Recto added: “If we accost jaywalkers and fine drivers who change lanes abruptly, then why should we not demand the same observance of our laws from vessels who will cross our country?”
Image credits: Richard Maddelo/Malacañang Presidential Photo via AP