📷 Philippine News Agency
House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez and the opposition Makabayan bloc has raised a howl over China’s recent order that it will arrest foreign nationals in the West Philippine Sea.
Romualdez said that China’s aggressive pronouncements are a blatant escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
“These unilateral actions flagrantly violate international law and the established norms that guide the Philippines and other law-abiding nations with claims in the South China Sea,” Romualdez said in a statement.
China has unilaterally claimed most of the West Philippine Sea including waters within the Philippines 12-nautical mile territorial waters and its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone.
The speaker said China must respect international rulings and act as a responsible member of the global community, rather than imposing its own laws unilaterally and bullying other nations.
“The House of the Filipino People will not tolerate any arrests of our citizens or fishermen within our own Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). We will fiercely defend our sovereignty and ensure the safety and rights of our people,” Romualdez said.
China’s recent pronouncements came after groups of fishermen and activists from the Philippines sailed to Panatag Shoal to deliver food and other supplies to Filipino fishermen in area.
House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Partylist Rep. France Castro said China’s move to allow its coast guard to detain without trial foreigners suspected of illegally crossing borders in what it considers its territorial waters is highly condemnable.
“This is highly condemnable and is not even legal. China has no right to impose such a regulation. If any country has a right to arrest foreigners, it is the Philippines. China is the one trespassing in our territorial waters and our exclusive economic zone, and now it has the gall to say that they would arrest non-Chinese in our waters,” Castro said.
“With this action, China is further escalating the tension in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), but we must also be wary that such a move would not be used by the US and their allies to further militarize the area,” she added.
“The Philippines should expedite filing a case against China again in the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the United Nations. The international community, especially the ASEAN, should also speak up against China’s blatant disregard of Philippine sovereignty, the 2016 arbitral ruling and the UNCLOS,” Castro said.
Bayan Muna chairman Neri Colmenares warmed Chin to stand down as its move escalates tension and could lead to open conflict if China arrests Filipinos.
“We reiterate our call for the Philippines and other ASEAN countries to file a joint resolution in the United Nations calling on the UN to step in and demilitarise the South China Sea (SCS). All military installations in the SCS, including those of the Philippines, China and Vietnam, must be dismantled to pave the way for the peaceful resolution of the dispute. We urge Asean countries being bullied by china like Vietnam and Malaysia to file together with the Philippines, a multi-pronged case vs china in the international arbitral tribunal to stop China’s growing belligerence in the region,” he said. (Gerry Baldo)
