Palace won’t antagonize China over West Philippine Sea – Roque

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang would rather not antagonize China over its expanding military presence in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea as it sees the need to maintain good bilateral relations without compromising Philippine sovereignty.

“There are two options – let us antagonize China again or let’s insist that we are not giving up on the territory. Let us assert our rights over the vast oceans within our exclusive economic zone, but at the same time moving on with our bilateral relations,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.

“Both countries have vowed to work on areas which we can agree on,” he said. “Where we can agree we agree, where we can’t, we set aside our differences in the meantime.”

President Duterte himself, in remarks yesterday at the commemoration of the 120^th anniversary of the Philippine Navy, said there is no need to be aggressive in dealing with China.

“It has something to do with my desire to defend but at the same time not to make any move that would be destructive to the nation. I cannot afford at this time to go to war,” the President told a gathering of Navy officers and personnel.

“I cannot go into a battle which I cannot win and it would only result in the destruction and probably a lot of losses for our Armed Forces,” Duterte added.

Roque, meanwhile, taunted acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio for asking executive officials to file a formal protest against China’s deployment of heavy bombers to one of the artificial islands in the South China Sea.

“So, I ask Justice Carpio, I appreciate your nationalism but come on, look at the statements that we just made; by insisting on ASEAN’s statement, aren’t we asserting and working with other countries with similar claims? All other claimants are from ASEAN,” he added.

Roque reiterated that the government – through the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) – had already notified Beijing of its concern over the landing of the bombers on Woody Island in the Paracel Islands. 

“Let me just say that, just because we have not said anything in that regard, does not mean we are not doing anything. That’s covered by what the DFA says, that we can’t publicly announce what we are doing, but you know it goes without saying that that possibility is there,” Roque said.

Roque maintained that DFA’s effort should prove “that we’re quietly working with our ASEAN neighbors, especially those with similar claims and an overwhelming number of us in fact within ASEAN have claims.” 

The DFA clarified it has already taken diplomatic action on the matter in “appropriate language” relayed through diplomatic channels.

Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have overlapping claims in the South China Sea.

File protest now

Carpio said the Duterte administration should immediately take action against China’s militarizing the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea as doing nothing could be misinterpreted as acquiescing to the Asian power’s “creeping invasion.”

In a statement yesterday, the most senior Supreme Court magistrate expressed alarm over the recent deployment to Woody Island of H-6K long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear-armed cruise missiles.

“Failure to formally protest means the Philippines is acquiescing or consenting to the militarization, and worse, to the claim of China that all the islands, waters and resources within the nine-dash line form part of Chinese territory,” Carpio warned.

“The failure to formally protest China’s militarization and creeping invasion makes the Philippines a willing victim of China’s third warfare strategy – acquiescing to China’s claim without China firing a single shot,” he pointed out.

“This Chinese strategic bomber can land and take off on any of China’s three-kilometer military grade runways on Mischief (Panganiban) Reef, Subi (Zamora) Reef and Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef,” he said. “All three reefs are within the Kalayaan Island Group of the Philippines.”

He explained that the Philippines has sovereignty over Zamora Reef and Kagitingan Reef as well as exclusive sovereign rights over Panganiban Reef as earlier declared by a United Nations-backed arbitral tribunal.

The magistrate maintained that the militarization of the Spratlys and the Paracels is part of China’s “Three-Warfare Strategy” to control the South China Sea for economic and military purposes.

He said China is planning to construct more air and naval facilities and introduce nuclear-armed strategic bombers – as what it is doing now – to intimidate other claimant states into accepting Beijing’s nine-dash line.

“China’s third warfare strategy is to display its overwhelming military superiority to force other claimant states into submission without China firing a single shot,” he said.

Carpio stressed that filing another formal protest with the Permanent Court of Arbitration is the best way to deal with China’s provocations.

“Any self-respecting sovereign state will immediately formally protest such encroachment on its sovereignty and sovereign rights. The Philippines must do no less. A formal protest is recognized by the United Nations Charter as a peaceful and legitimate response,” he pointed out.

United front

Carpio also suggested that the government coordinate with other claimant states and other concerned states in resisting China’s militarization of the South China Sea. 

“Failure to coordinate, and to harness world opinion to support the arbitral ruling, will be handing over to China on a silver platter the West Philippine Sea,” he warned.   

Vice President Leni Robredo, for her part, reiterated her call for the Duterte administration to file a diplomatic protest against China’s aircraft deployment.

Robredo, however, erroneously referred to the site of the landing as being in the West Philippine Sea.

“Reports that there were Chinese aircraft with nuclear-strike capability in our islands are very alarming. Aside from this, we are also concerned about China’s conduct of landing and takeoff exercises in the West Philippine Sea using their long-range bombers,” Robredo said in Filipino.

“We urge the Department of Foreign Affairs to file a diplomatic protest in light of these developments. This would allow us to express our strong opposition against China’s actions,” she said.

Robredo said the Filipino people expect the Duterte administration to defend the country’s territories.

She said the government may keep its healthy diplomatic relations with its neighbors without compromising the country’s sovereignty.

Barry Gutierrez, Robredo’s legal adviser, in a post on Twitter, clarified the Vice President’s statement.

“The point of the statement remains: that these Chinese nuclear-capable bombers pose a threat to Philippine interests in the WPS and the security of the region, and our DFA should address this issue decisively,” he said. Robredo is in the US to attend her daughter’s graduation.

For opposition Rep. Edcel Lagman, President Duterte’s stance on the country’s maritime dispute with China “is perplexing even as it is suspicious.” 

He said the President’s responses to China’s provocations have so far been “pathetic and unpatriotic.”

“After an arbitral award by the United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration on July 12, 2016 confirming the Philippines’ sovereignty over most of the disputed areas in the West Philippine Sea, President Duterte refused to even discuss the award with the Chinese government,” he said.

He added that Duterte “stalled to submission” when Chinese President Xi Jinping allegedly threatened that China would go to war if the Philippines insisted on enforcing the award.

Lagman pointed out that Xi’s threat was “uncorroborated and unconfirmed.”

He said he finds it befuddling that the President would consider China a “newfound friend” and protector of the Philippines “despite its installation of missiles in three reefs in the Spratly Islands.”

The administration’s consistent refusal to protest China’s militarization in the South China Sea and West Philippine Sea was also alarming, Lagman said.

“With an expansionist aggressor at our very doorstep, Duterte is acting timid and unperturbed as if indeed the Philippines has already been annexed as a province of China,” he said.

He said the Duterte administration “cannot adopt a posture of helplessness even as viable remedies are available like a strong diplomatic protest, invocation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and enforcement of United Nations sanctions.” 

While the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has maintained its silence on the issue, its spokesman said there is no letup in air and maritime patrols in the West Philippine Sea.

“The AFP is consistent that all matters in the West Philippine Sea is within the hands of the DFA or the defense department. But we can assure our people that your Armed Forces is doing its mandate,” Col. Edgard Arevalo said.

“Your Armed Forces will never renege on its constitutional obligation to help secure and defend the territorial integrity of our nation. There are other things that we are doing but we are not at liberty to reveal to you but these are part and parcel of what we are doing towards the fulfillment of our constitutional mandate,” Arevalo said. — Helen Flores, Jess Diaz, Jaime Laude, Pia Lee-Brago

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