Aquino: PHL will not abandon claim to Spratlys

COTABATO CITY — Saying the Philippines will not be cowed by China’s size, President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday said he will not abandon the country’s claim on the contested Spratly Islands.

“I don’t think I would be doing my duty to the people and the State if we agree na sige lahat ng gusto nyo sa inyo na lang kasi ang laki nyo sa amin. Mukhang mali yatang prinsipyo yun,” Aquino said at a press briefing after visiting flood victims here.

Aquino, however, said the country is not being “belligerent” to China, a claimant to the supposedly oil- and mineral-rich group of islands, but is just exercising its right as a sovereign nation.

“Baka certain quarters are saying, bakit ba tayo belligerent, bakit ba binubunggo itong napakahiganteng bansa? Hindi po natin binubunggo, ang ginagawa lang po natin pinoprotektahan natin ang karapatan natin dahil yung karapatan natin kung hindi mo ie-exercise, inabandon mo,” he said.

The Philippines recently deployed its only warship to Scarborough Shoal after it accused China of intruding the country’s territorial waters.

Aquino said if the country would allow China to claim parts of Spratly Islands that are within the country’s exclusive economic zone as stated under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS), the Philippines would lose its right over the islands.

Under the UNCLOS, which was promulgated and adopted in early 1980s, a country’s exclusive economic zone is defined as 200 miles from its continental shelf.

“We believe our basis for claim is well founded especially under this treaty ratified by this so many countries, including China,” Aquino said.

He said the Philippines “expects” China to adhere to the UNCLOS.

“We expect China to adhere to that and with America backing us up and other ASEAN claimants, we expect that the UN, America and the other interested parties who have to traverse this body of water will insist on freedom of navigation and [the] adherence to UNCLOS,” Aquino said.

He stressed that Reed Bank or Recto Bank is under the jurisdiction of the Philippines and not part of the dispute, as it is located 80 nautical miles off Palawan and about 570 miles from Hinan island, the closest point in China.

Aquino not directly answer the question if the Philippines will still file a protest against China before the UN over the recent intrusion incidents. “Marami na tayong pinayl na protest, marami rin silang pinayl na protest sa atin. Ang importante dito… let them defend themselves in the international fora as to where the validity of their claim lies in,” he said.

Aside from the Philippines and China, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and Taiwan also claim wholly or partly the Spratly Islands.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Wednesday welcomed Singapore’s call to China to clarify its claims to the disputed Spratly Islands in the West Philippine Sea (also South China Sea).

Singapore, a non-claimant to any of the islands, said China should clarify its claims “with more precision as the current ambiguity as to their extent has caused serious concerns in the international maritime community.”

“We welcome the call of the Singapore Foreign Ministry for People’s Republic of China to clarify the extent of its claim to the South China Sea,” DFA spokesman Eduardo Malaya said in a statement.

He said the Singaporean ambassador personally conveyed the message to DFA Secretary Albert Del Rosario when they met with other ambassadors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last Friday.

Malaya said they are also urging other concerned parties in the matter to work with the Philippines to resolve the longstanding dispute through consultations that adhere to diplomacy and international law.

“As we have said all along, the issues pertaining to the West Philipine Sea and the Spratly Islands affect not just the claimant countries but the entire region itself and beyond, and thus call for a multi-stakeholder approach,” Malaya said.— with Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News

Article source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/224129/nation/aquino-phl-will-not-abandon-claim-to-spratlys

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