THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 7 Number 8 | MAY 2017
NEWS
3
PHILIPPINES: IN THE NEWS...
Border dispute escalates
The Philippines border dispute with China seems to
escalate by the day. Filipino fishermen at the West
Philippi ne Sea claimed the Chinese had fired shots at
them. The Department of Foreign Affairs had asked
China “to refrain from the threat or use of force” in
driving away the Filipino fishermen from the West
Philippine Sea and other disputed water territories.
As usual, China
denied the allegations.
“We have raised the matter
with the Chinese side several times
and they informed us that their
investigations did not reveal any
such incidents,” Bolivar was quoted as
saying in a Manila Times report.
“We have asked them to continue
the investigations and to share the
results with Philippine authorities.
Meanwhile, we continue to urge the
Chinese side to refrain from the threat
or use of force,” he added.
Fishermen from Batangas, Bataan,
and Pangasinan claimed that Chinese
navy vessels fired warning shots at
them in March. The Chinese navy
personnel were in the vicinity of Union
Banks, well within the Philippines’
200-nautical-mile exclusive economic
zone.
Last year, Filipino fishermen
resumed fishing at Panatag
(Scarborough) Shoal after the visit of
President Rodrigo Duterte in Beijing.
China’s reclamation activities at
installations on islands in the West
Philippine Sea have sparked concern
in the region, as these are in defiance
of a July 2016 international arbitration
ruling that upheld the Philippines’
maritime claims.
‘Pag-asa Island
is ours’
A stronger statement had been
issued by the Philippine foreign affairs
department recently with regard to the
territorial disputes with China.
Foreign affairs
spokesperson
Robespierre Bolivar
said the “Pag-asa
Island and the
larger Kalayaan
Island Group are
a municipality
of Palawan.”
Bolivar
further said,
“Any visit of
activity we
undertake
there are
part and
parcel of
our Constitutional mandate to ensure
the safety, well-being, and livelihood of
our citizens living in this municipality.”
Residents in the area are mostly
Filipinos, the DFA spokesman said.
The DFA statement was in response
to a claim made by Chinese ambassador
to the Philippines Zhao Jianhua said
that the occupation of and any activity
on the islands by Filipinos is illegal.
A Philippine Air Force plane with
Philippine defense secretary Delfin
Lorenzana and other military officials
was reportedly harassed by the Chinese
military as the plane headed for Pag-asa
Island.
The Chinese ambassador said the
Philippine plane received a warning
as it was about to “intrude” in their
territory.
President Rodrigo Duterte had
earlier directed the defense secretary to
“repair and upgrade” structures on Pag-
asa Island. The president also ordered
the military to occupy the Philippine-
inhabited islands and reefs on the West
Philippine Sea to assert the country’s
sovereignty in the area.
ASEAN quiet
on confl ict
The Philippines may have to stand
on its own over the territorial dispute
against China. While a summit was
held by leaders of the Association of
South East Asian Nations recently, the
regional body was mum on the border
issue.
Not one of the ASEAN leaders
“strongly pushed” for the inclusion
of the issue of China’s massive
reclamation and militarization activities
in the South China according to Foreign
Affairs executive director Zaldy Patron
said yesterday.
He said Asean leaders instead
acknowledged “the improving relations
between Asean member states or Asean
and China.”
But Patron’s statements
contradicted earlier reports that some
Asean leaders wanted to include
“land reclamation and militarization”
activities in the final Asean Chairman’s
Statement that was issued at the
conclusion of the Asean summit.
China apparently welcomed a softer
stand taken by Asean on the disputed
South China Sea at the recently-
concluded 30th Asean Summit held in
Manila.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana