MANILA, Philippines - The reported concrete blocks scattered in the disputed Panatag Shoal won't yet be removed as they pose no threat so far, President Benigno Aquino III said Wednesday.
Aquino said the "very old" concrete blocks are in the shallow portion of the shoal where there are no vessels transiting.
"If they do not present a danger to shipping or to any ships transiting the area, then there might not be a need to remove these concrete blocks at this time," Aquino told the media during the Presidential Forum of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
"They are not a new phenomenon. They don't seem to give us any reason to have an increase in anxiety," Aquino also said.
The President maintained that the Panatag Shoal belongs to the Philippines, which is currently locked in a territorial dispute with China.
The Asian giant has been pressing its sovereignty over the entire South China Sea through its nine dash claim. The Philippines has brought the matter before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.
Last month, the Department of National Defense said an aerial surveillance team spotted at least 75 concrete blocks around the shoal and three Chinese coast guard ships.
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