HEADLINE-ASIA GEOPOLITICS | ‘BBM (Ferdinand Marcos Jr.) vows response to Chinese bullying’
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(UPDATE) PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday vowed to mount a “proportionate, deliberate and reasonable” response to the “unabating, and illegal, coercive, aggressive and dangerous attacks” by the China Coast Guard and the Chinese Maritime Militia in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In a statement released by the Palace, the President said the relevant government agencies would put together “a response and countermeasure package” in the next few weeks based on the recommendations of National Security Adviser Eduardo Año and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. to address Chinese actions against Filipino vessels and personnel in the WPS.
“We seek no conflict with any nation, more so nations that purport and claim to be our friends, but we will not be cowed into silence, submission or subservience. Filipinos do not yield,” he said.
Memento Maxima Digital MarketingThe President also said the Philippines was in “constant communication” with allies, partners and friends in the international community.
“They have offered to help us on what the Philippines requires to protect and secure our sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction while ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,” Marcos said.
“I have given them our requirements, and we have been assured that they will be addressed,” he added.
Marcos issued the statement after the China Coast Guard used water cannons against a Philippine vessel on a resupply mission to Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone. The attack caused heavy damage to the resupply boat and injured four servicemen.
Earlier, the National Security Council (NSC) said the President would rescind whatever agreement China may have reached on the WPS with his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, because it would be detrimental to the country’s interests.
At the same time, Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said his father, former president Joseph Estrada, had never agreed to tow the BRP Sierra Madre from Ayungin as China had claimed. He said this was confirmed by Estrada’s defense secretary at the time, Orly Mercado.
Meanwhile, journalists denounced as a “barefaced lie” Chinese accusations that they had manipulated videos of encounters in the South China Sea to make it appear that the Philippines was a victim.
Reacting to a statement from Harry Roque Jr., a former Duterte administration spokesman, NSC Assistant Director General Jonathan Malaya said the agency was not aware of any “gentleman’s agreement” between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
“The good former secretary should be the one to explain to the public his statements since such an agreement, if it exists, infringes [on] and violates our sovereignty as a nation,” Malaya said.
“Even if such a ‘gentleman’s agreement’ exists, it is not legally binding by its very nature. Therefore, the Marcos administration is not bound by any such agreement because it is detrimental to the national interest,” he added.
Malaya said President Marcos had said he would rescind such an agreement if it existed.
“Therefore, China’s repeated reference to such ‘promises’ serves no purpose as there is no legally binding agreement between the two countries under the Marcos administration,” he added.
Malaya lamented that China had repeatedly claimed that there was a promise to remove or tow away BRP Sierra Madre from the shoal, which was being contested by Beijing as part of their territory.
“In so far as the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea is concerned, we have not seen any document from the former administration that validates or confirms the existence of this so-called gentleman’s agreement and the terms of such an agreement under the previous administration,” he said.
Malaya also insisted that the Philippines had not violated the Declaration of Conduct (DOC) as China claimed.
“As has been seen by the world, the Philippines has acted with self-restraint in the conduct of activities and has not acted to complicate or escalate disputes that affect peace and stability,” the official said.
China, he said, is the one violating the DOC by intruding into the country’s waters.
“It is China that has been continually violating the DOC by interfering with a routine resupply mission to a long-standing Philippine outpost in the WPS by water-cannoning, dangerous maneuvers, and other aggressive actions,” Malaya said.
Earlier, Roque said Duterte had a “gentleman’s agreement” with China to keep the status quo in the West Philippine Sea by limiting resupply missions to BRP Sierra Madre to food and water for the soldiers.
The former Palace spokesman said China was upset that the status quo was disrupted under the Marcos administration.
“But China’s complaint is that the Philippines’ action is opposite to what was agreed — that there would be no more sending of repair equipment. That’s why that’s China’s reaction,” Roque said in an interview with Politiko.
BRP Sierra Madre, an active Philippine Navy warship despite its dilapidated condition, was deliberately run aground off Ayungin Shoal in 1997 to serve as a military outpost and to maintain the country’s sovereignty over the area amid the expansionist ambitions of China.
Filipino marines and sailors are deployed by the Navy on a rotation basis on board the BRP Sierra Madre. A routine resupply mission is conducted at least twice a month to bring food and other provisions for the troops manning the Navy ship.
But Chinese vessels have started getting aggressive to prevent the resupply missions to Ayungin Shoal.
This month, China Coast Guard vessels performed dangerous maneuvers and used water cannons during the March 5 and March 23 resupply missions, which damaged civilian supply boats, caused the collision of vessels and injured Filipino military personnel.
China justified its use of force by accusing the Philippine vessels of bringing construction materials to Ayungin Shoal to fix BRP Sierra Madre.
Beijing claims sovereignty over 90 percent of the South China Sea, where the smaller West Philippine Sea is located.
But in 2016, an international court in The Hague ruled that China’s claims had no legal basis.
No manipulation
Also on Thursday, journalists took exception to the claims of the Chinese Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Manila that journalists manipulated videos of Chinese actions in the WPS.
In a statement, the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap) rejected and condemned claims from Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hua Chunying that the Philippine press was a “troublemaker.”
“The association strongly rejects and condemns the false, baseless claims by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying and the Chinese Embassy in Manila that journalists ‘manipulate the videos they recorded’ in the South China Sea to ‘project the Philippines as a victim,'” the Focap said.
“Members of Focap include both Filipinos and foreign nationals from around the world, some of whom have [been] embedded in these Philippine missions,” they added. “The claim that the Philippines ‘had journalists manipulate’ their footage is a barefaced lie.”
They further stated that Hua’s statements are “an insult to the integrity of journalists and an alarming attempt to muzzle an independent press.”
The National Union of Journalists (NUJP) also took offense at Beijing’s statement.
“The media is not a party to the dispute and should not be demonized by parties for airing contending views on the issue and unflattering reports on incidents in the West Philippine Sea,” the group said on Wednesday in a statement.
“Contrary to the ministry’s claims on its social media accounts, journalists on these missions provide on-site reports of incidents in the West Philippine Sea, often at their personal risk,” they added. “Except for operational and national security considerations, state forces have no say in the production and editorial decisions on these reports.”
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