Senators slam China for water cannon on PCG vessels
Senators criticized China for allegedly attacking Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) vessels escorting two boats with a water cannon during a re-supply mission to Ayungin Shoal on Saturday.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said that the incident was a “manifestation of might versus right treatment of its peaceful neighbors”.
“By its actions, it shows diplomatic duplicity, of preaching about amity, but practicing hostile behavior,” Zubiri said in a statement released Sunday.
“We want to be friends with you, but why are you so hard to love, China?” he said.
“This incident reaffirms the merit of the resolution the Senate has unanimously passed,” he added.
The Senate on August 2 passed Resolution No. 718 which condemns China’s incursions in the West Philippine Sea and the continued harassment of Filipino fishermen.
“Because China contemptuously ignores protests, all the more that we have to rally the world to condemn acts which have no place in a civilized order,” Zubiri said.
In a separate statement, Senate Minority Leader Risa Hontiveros said: “The Chinese Coast Guard has absolutely no right to block, let alone water cannon, our supply vessels. They do not have the right to starve Filipinos in Ayungin Shoal”.
Hontiveros said China was violating the United Nations Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award with its “repeated provocations”.
She urged the Philippines’ Indo-Pacific neighbors and other countries to condemn China’s “dangerous behavior”.
Hontiveros also called on the government to have joint patrols with fellow claimant countries.
“I also hope our country can start joint patrols with other claimant countries in the SCS (South China Sea, such as Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. We need to cooperate so we can stop the aggressive actions of China,” she said.
She also urged the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to raise the encroachment of China in the West Philippine Sea with other international platforms.
“The recently adopted Senate Resolution 718, with its precision and specific recommendations, is at their disposal,” she said.
For his part, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said the government’s last resort to asserting its claim over the West Philippine Sea would be “force against force”.
“We will just support him (President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.) in the foreign policy that he is pursuing. The last option is force against force,” he told dzBB.
Dela Rosa, who chairs the Senate Committee on Dangerous Drugs, said the country does not have the capacity to wage war against China.
“How could you trust them (China)? When you are facing each other, they will just smile, shake hands and give you all the assurances. But behind your back, they are doing the opposite. When they are talking to our President they will say we are friends but their military is acting differently towards us,” he said.
“I have lost patience with them. We can’t challenge them to war because we don’t have the capacity. We are exhausting all our options. We have filed countless protests but nothing is happening,” he added.
He said the government is doing all it can to defend its sovereignty, including the Senate.
“Patience is a virtue. Because the government is doing everything it can. In fact, our Senate has made a resolution condemning (China’s actions) and urging the Executive Department to create measures that will make China to stop its excessive abuse,” he said. Jaspearl Tan/DMS
