Palace: Friendship with China benefits Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government has not given up "too much, too early, too soon" to improve relations with China, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday.

 

The statement was in response to a newspaper headline on Sunday, where UP Professor Jay Batongbacal said that the country has yet to see one project break ground amid billions of dollars worth of projects that China had promised the Philippines.

 

Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said that China is "gaining too much" from the Philippines' "softness" on the issue.

 

Roque, in a press briefing, denied that China has gained more than the Philippines in its relationship.

 

"On the contrary, we have upheld our national interest and produced tangible benefits for our people in pursuing friendly and mutually beneficial ties with China," Roque said.

 

The Malacañang spokesman also noted that Filipino fishermen have regained access to Scarborough Shoal in the West Philippine Sea, the part of the South China Sea that the Philippines claims.

He also cited the increase of Chinese tourists and investments in the country.

 

"We have said in numerous occasions that we will continue to defend our sovereignty and sovereign rights when we discuss our territorial and maritime disputes with China while maximizing the benefits of our people by promoting economic and other relations with China," he said.

 

Washington-based Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative recently reported that China is likely using Kagitingan or Fiery Cross Reef as its intelligence hub in the Spratly Islands.

 

Manila-claimed Kagitingan Reef is the the smallest of Beijing's "Big Three" artificial islands in the Spratlys but has seen the most number of construction in the past year, the AMTI reported.

 

"None of the other bases in the Spratlys so far has a comparable array, though smaller ones have been built on Subi and Mischief, suggesting that Fiery Cross might be serving as a signals intelligence/communications hub for Chinese forces in the area," the AMTI said in a brief published last Friday.

 

China had also named features in Benham or Philippine Rise, which is part of the Philippines' extended continental shelf in the Pacific Ocean.

 

Batongbacal lamented that the Philippine government has not been paying enough attention to the country's maritime jurisdictions in the West Philippine Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

 

"This is really a clear sign of neglect even something as simple as naming shows that we are not even keeping up with the simple things, the ones that don’t require that much in terms of resources and expenses," Batongbacal told ANC's "Headstart" Monday morning.