Opposition solons slam Duterte gov’t silence on China militarization of West Philippine Sea

MANILA, Philippines — Two opposition lawmakers on Monday blasted the silence of the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte on reports that China was almost done with its militarization of artificially-built islands in the West Philippine Sea and urged the government to disclose its dealing with Beijing.

Sen. Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino on Monday wondered if the Philippines had already been sold and urged the government to disclose any deal it may have struck with the Chinese.

“While their war ships are in our seas, we continue to give in to their whims and, all the while, we are kept in the dark as to our government’s dealings with China,” Aquino said.

“It’s time for the administration to disclose its offers to China and divulge what the Philippines is surrendering to it,” Aquino said in a statement as he urged the Senate to act on a Senate resolution he filed in September 2016 calling on the body to investigate the government’s foreign policy direction.

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Rep. Gary Alejano (Magdalo) also slammed the Duterte administration’s “silence and inaction” on reports that China’s militarization of its man-made structures in the West Philippine Sea was almost complete.

“This administration is not doing anything because of loans and investments from China which we have to pay for eventually. Based from the experiences of other countries that have dealt with China, when they failed to pay for the loans they contracted, China demanded for other payments – mining rights, use of agricultural lands, and fishing rights. These loans will strangle us in the end,” Alejano said in a statement.

He said that this attitude of the Duterte administration was encouraging China to continue its militarization and other activities in the area.

“There is none stopping China, more so if the Philippines continues to give leeway, remain subservient, or worse, co-opted by China. Thus, friendly relations with China will not deter it from militarizing SCS,” he said

He warned that China’s objective was to control the disputed features in the waters based on its so-called historical rights. He added that the artificial islands would provide shelter and logistics and basically serve as bases of support to Chinese presence in the waters.

Alejano, a former Marine officer, said that China was forcing other claimants to accept its actions by challenging norms and trying to establish new ones without respect to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and other international laws.

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He added that China would deplete the resources and destroy the marine environment in the area, which would become crucial once the supply of natural gas in Malampaya dried out.

Once the resources in the West Philippine Sea had been sucked dry, China would turn to the waters off Luzon’s eastern seaboard as a source of natural resources especially Benham Rise.

“We are seeing this now in the guise of marine scientific research and freedom of navigation. If we do not push for policies to protect our territory, our eastern seaboard could also suffer the same fate as that of the WPS,” he said.

The opposition lawmaker urged the public to be vigilant about the actions of the administration and its future implications as he warned that Duterte’s decisions could have long-term repercussions.

The Palace on Monday said that it was betting on China’s promise not to reclaim new areas as the two countries continued to forge closer political and economic ties.

"What do you want us to say? All that we could do is to extract a promise from China not to reclaim any new artificial islands," Roque said at a streamed press briefing, adding that these features were developed and their structures installed during the time of the previous administration.

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