MANILA, Philippines — Two opposition senators lamented yesterday Malacañang’s apparent lack of vigilance to defend the country’s territory amid reports that China is almost done militarizing seven Philippine-claimed reefs in the South China Sea.
Sen. Paolo Benigno Aquino IV, a Liberal Party member, said the new developments were alarming. “Has our country been sold already?” he asked.
“While their war ships are in our seas, we continue to give in to their whims and, all the while, we are kept in the dark as to our government’s dealings with China,” Aquino said.
Aquino reiterated his call on Malacañang to bare to the public its policy with regard to dealing with China.
Aquino also renewed his request for the Senate leadership to act on his resolution seeking a review of the administration’s policy toward China.
Last September, Aquino filed Resolution 158 seeking to clarify the country’s foreign policy direction to determine the administration’s position on several issues, including the West Philippine Sea, Benham Rise and other dealings with China.
For his part, LP president and Sen. Francis Pangilinan said he was deeply troubled by how Malacañang has downplayed the reported militarization of the South China Sea by China instead of protesting this.
Pangilinan said the government has a “sacred core duty” to protect its territory in behalf of its people.
He noted the attitude of the administration on the continued reclamation and militarization of China in the South China Sea was unacceptable.
“What makes a country? Aside from the recognition of its neighbors, a country is defined by its territory and the people in that territory, and its ability to defend its territory and people,” Pangilinan said.
“That’s why we are deeply troubled that instead of expressing outrage, Malacañang displayed a nonchalant attitude in playing down China’s militarization of the entire South China Sea, including the West Philippine Sea,” he added.
Pangilinan said it was disturbing to hear presidential spokesperson Harry Roque relying on China’s word that it would not reclaim new islands, “thus, we can sleep soundly at night.”
“It’s like telling Filipinos not to worry because while China constructed a building, it would only stay on the ground floor,” he said.
Pangilinan said it is difficult to trust China to keep its word considering that it has engaged in unprecedented and ecologically devastating dredging and island-building in the Spratly islands since 2013.
In the process, he pointed out that China has created 1,300 hectares of land in the disputed waters so “how can we trust it to stop its aggression this time?”
He noted how the Aquino administration was able to secure a favorable ruling from the arbitral tribunal in 2016, which could be used to assert the rights of the country in its territorial waters.