MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Tito Sotto and Sen. Kiko Pangilinan said at the CNN Philippines vice presidential debate on Saturday that they will turn to foreign partners to help assert the country’s rights over the West Philippine Sea.
Liberal Party vice presidential bet Pangilinan is counting on engagement with other Southeast Asian nations and countries with stakes in the South China Sea, while Nationalist People’s Coalition candidate Sotto is relying on the Philippines’ Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States.
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“We would have to engage with Asean, Indonesia, Vietnam, they are also concerned about the aggression of China,” Pangilinan said. “The US, Australia, Japan are also concerned about the nine-dash line illegal claim, fake claim.”
Sotto, meanwhile, aims to put the MDT to use through a bill he filed in the Senate establishing maritime zones.
“Kung ang China, may nine-dash line, wala tayong maritime zones, hindi maliwanag. That is why I filed a bill to, ika nga, linawan mabuti yan. At pag ‘yan, pinasok tayo noong kapitbahay natin, papasok yung MDT, yung Mutual Defense Treaty. Ang kalaban niyan si Kano na,” he said.
(If China has a nine-dash line, we don’t have maritime zones, it’s unclear. That is why I filed a bill to clarify that. And if our neighbors enter that, the MDT will come in. Their opponent will be the Americans now.)
Aside from looking to foreign partners, Pangilinan also stressed the importance of resuming Navy and Coast Guard patrols in the West Philippine Sea.
But some vice presidential bets were not amused with Pangilinan and Sotto’s proposals for asserting the country’s rights over the waters.
“Paulit-ulit naman iyong sinasabi niya na, ‘Labanan natin, labanan natin.’ Eh panahon pa ni Aquino at nitong kay Duterte, wala naman tayong nagawa doon sa sinasabi nating, ‘Ipaglaban natin eh,’” Democratic Party of the Philippines vice-presidential candidate Rizalito David said.
(We’ve repeatedly said that we’ll fight it. But from the time of Aquino and Duterte, we weren’t able to do anything with these calls to fight it.)
Partido Lakas ng Masa vice presidential candidate Walden Bello scored Pangilinan and Sotto for their stance, stressing that it is important for the Philippines to maintain an independent foreign policy.