SEVERAL lawmakers expressed indignations on what they said were the latest Chinese bullying tactics in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In a statement, Senator Ana Theresia “Risa” N. Hontiveros said she expects the Marcos government to promptly file a democratic protest against the “continuous, unbroken, and apparently unrepentant string of incidents that China should be accountable for.”
“I expect that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will file a diplomatic protest at once,” the senator said, suggesting that “simultaneously, Malacanang should condemn, in the strongest terms, China’s ceaseless intimidation, torment, and threats.”
The DFA reportedly plans to fire another round of diplomatic protests against Beijing following the harassment by Chinese ships of two Coast Guard patrol boats near Ayungin Shoal.
“Even if we have to wallpaper the Great Wall with diplomatic protests, we should continue because once we show any sign of wavering, it normalizes China’s misbehavior inside our territory,” said House Deputy Speaker Ralph Recto in a separate statement.
“Even if they are deaf, we have to blow our whistle again and again. At least, the whole world would hear,” he said.
Hontiveros, on the other hand, suggested that “the Executive should not wait for an even worse incident in order to finally put its foot down and tell Beijing to cease and desist in this kind of aggressive action.”
Policy review
HONTIVEROS said she is wondering what Malacañang could be waiting for: “Ano pa ang hinihintay ng Palasyo? Na may Pilipinong tuluyang mamatay?” [What is the Palace waiting for? That a Filipino dies?]
She noted that “at this time, it’s only right to actively and boldly continue in the direction of building bigger alliances,” reminding that “a broader alliance is a better alliance.”
The senator stressed that “let us urgently work on building this bigger coalition of countries who are against China’s misbehavior, who uphold our victory at The Hague, and who want to preserve peace and stability in the region.”
“We must also seriously look into reviewing our national policy towards China,” the senator said.
“Inaaraw-araw na niya ang pambu-bully sa ating mga mamamayan. Kailangan may mga polisiya tayong magtitiyak ng tunay na pagdedepensa sa karapatan at kabuhayan nating mga Pilipino,” Hontiveros added. [China bullies our citizens every day. We need to have policies that will ensure the true defense of the rights and livelihood of us Filipinos.]
Burglar alarm
RECTO said last Sunday that the Chinese acts of aggression in the WPS should be met with indignation at every turn because not to do so would play into Beijing’s game plan that the Philippines would eventually tire out from protesting.
“Our protest, whether by the government or the people, is like a burglar alarm that goes off when it is tripped. The bad thing is if we turn it off. Just keep going,” Recto said.
The lawmaker also said the Philippines also owes it to its neighbors, who are the subject of Chinese incursions, to make noise.
“That kind of maritime patintero [a traditional child’s game], which China has perfected, has become part of the seascape. It never passes a chance to display its bully credentials,” Recto said.
The Philippine response to these provocations, Recto said, is to continue with its sea patrols.
Last year, a total of 195 notes verbales on WPS incidents were filed by the DFA with the Chinese embassy.
The one filed on the second week of February, which denounced “dangerous maneuvers” of the Chinese Coast Guard in Ayungin Shoal, was the 75th “note verbale” filed under the Marcos administration.
Strongly condemns
House Deputy Minority leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France L. Castro strongly condemned the latest attack of China’s coast guard against the Philippine coast guard.
“Aside from filing a diplomatic protest, steps must be undertaken so that this will not happen again like lobbying the Asian Parliamentary Assembly and the Inter-Parlimentary Union (IPU) to condemn such actions,” Castro added.
The near-miss off the Spratly Islands was the latest in a steady string of incidents between China and the Philippines in the contested waterway.
“Tuso talaga ang China, while its diplomats say that more lines of communication are now available to avoid skirmishes and misunderstanding in the [WPS] their coast guard tried to ram our coast guard and are intent in denying us our own waters,” she said noting how cunning China is.
“As things go, while China is using its might to force us out of our own territory and exclusive economic zones, the US is exploiting our strategic location to advance its geopolitical agenda to the detriment of Filipinos,” said the Deputy Minority leader.
“With friends like these, who needs enemies? As it is this incident should not be used as a further justification for increasing the agreed areas under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US and the proposed Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with Japan. Instead of trying to de-escalate the tension in the WPS and demilitarize the area, the Marcos administration with the US and Japan is further hardening it, that the WPS may reach a flashpoint quickly,” said the teacher solon.
Castro reiterated that the Philippines need to de-escalate the tension and demilitarize the WPS instead of further heightening it.
“Joint patrols and international pressure are the peaceful yet assertive ways to defend our territory, military agreements will just exacerbate the current situation,” said Castro.