‘Phl has the right to protect territorial integrity, sovereignty’

MANILA, Philippines - China should join the Philippines’ peaceful and diplomatic approach to settling the West Philippine Sea dispute rather than make adverse statements or accuse Manila of damaging relations with Beijing.

In a press briefing, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Philippines is entitled to pursue whatever it feels is necessary to protect its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Asked if the Philippines is preparing for any economic backlash for confronting China before an international arbitral tribunal, Coloma said, “Our foreign policy is based on principles and we are not swayed by (drawing) a scenario. We will protect our national interest, which includes the economy.”

Beijing has rejected Manila’s challenge that it join the arbitration and even threatened the Philippines with sanctions.

Last Sunday, Manila electronically transmitted a 4,000-page memorial or written argument of its position on the West Philippine Sea issue to the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea based in The Hague, Netherlands.

The submission came a day after Chinese coast guard vessels tried but failed to stop a ship belonging to the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources from delivering provisions and supplies to a small Marine garrison stationed at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre on Ayungin Shoal.

Chinese vessels have also been harassing Philippine ships around Panatag Shoal, which is well within the country’s 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

“It is the duty of government to promote the welfare of its citizens and to ensure the orderly and stable growth of our national economy,” Coloma said.

While China is also entitled to its opinion, Coloma said the Philippines would continue to stand by its principles that the dispute must be settled peacefully and in accordance with international laws.

He stressed though that the West Philippine Sea issue should not define Philippine-China relations as President Aquino had emphasized during his China visit in 2011.

Coloma cited the long history of friendship and cooperation between the Philippines and China.

“That is why we don’t say that the West Philippine Sea should be the sole basis of our relations with the People’s Republic of China,” Coloma said.

Asked why China’s new ambassador to the Philippines, Zhao Jianhua, had not yet presented his credentials to the President, Coloma said he would seek answers from the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Sources yesterday told The STAR that the presentation of credentials of several ambassadors-designate, including China’s Zhao, is a matter of scheduling, and that there was no attempt to delay such ceremony.

On the coming World Economic Forum on East Asia to be hosted by Manila, Coloma said it would be up to organizers to invite China or not.

“The World Economic Forum is a private initiative. It is not a project of this government. We are simply the host country… and there is significant government participation as host country. But the event itself… is a privately organized event,” Coloma said.

Risking isolation

For two lawmakers, China risks getting isolated if it continues to ignore international arbitration proceedings or if it takes retaliatory action against the Philippines.

“China can impose whatever economic and political reprisals it wishes to impose about our claim of sovereignty to the exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea, but we will always seek what is the generally accepted way to settle the issue under international law,” Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo said. “But China should be reminded that it courts isolation in the international community if it takes reprisal actions against our decision to seek the international forum under the auspices of the United Nations.”

He also downplayed China’s threats of reprisal. 

Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello said that as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law on the Sea (UNCLOS), China cannot ignore its obligations and commitment.

“The legal instrument serves as the most potent force that can counter China’s bullying in the region,” Bello said, adding that the memorial “will cement our country’s claim and secure our country’s sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.”

“The memorial’s impact cannot be discounted. It will create a ripple effect that will turn into a tsunami of favorable international public opinion to support and legally fortify our claim,” he said.

The Philippines earlier filed a memorial before the ITLOS over its dispute with China over the West Philippine Sea.

He said the Aquino government should use the memorial to consolidate and mobilize the populace to defend Philippine sovereignty.

Instead of inviting US intervention, he said the government must rely on the strength and symbolism of the memorial to rally the people.

“The memorial is more forceful than the Chinese government’s bullying in the region. It is more powerful than the United States’ armada of naval ships,” Bello said.

The lawmakers also lauded the soldiers assigned to outposts in the West Philippine Sea, saying they have remained steadfast in their duties despite harassment from Chinese vessels, aside from having to bear harsh conditions in their outposts.

Protest

Meanwhile, Akbayan members – including Bello – picketed outside the Chinese consular office in Makati yesterday to denounce the Chinese forces’ “latest act of harassment of a Philippine civilian vessel at the West Philippine Sea.”

“We express outrage over China’s latest attempt to prevent our civilian ship from resupplying our personnel stationed at the Ayungin Shoal,” Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez said.  â€“ With Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz