A SENIOR lawmaker on Tuesday urged the Marcos administration to align all its policies with the government’s strong stance against China’s aggressive activities in the West Philippine Sea, following the Chief Executive’s remarks at the US-Asean (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez commended Marcos for forcefully defending the Philippines’ territorial and economic rights before US and Asean leaders, particularly over sea features that fall within the country’s exclusive economic zone but continue to be claimed by China.
‘The President’s statements before US and Asean leaders and the world reflect his strong defense of our country’s economic and security interests in waters and sea features that are legally ours and which China is unabashedly and persistently claiming,’ he said.
The Mindanao lawmaker noted that thePresident raised, for the first time, China’s move to declare a so-called ‘nature reserve’ around Bajo de Masinloc, or Scarborough Shoal-an area long used by Filipino fishermen located about 120 miles off Pangasinan and Zambales.
‘The national leadership, including the Cabinet, should support the President’s energetic defense of our national interest in the West Philippine Sea. We should not pursue policies that will undermine such a stance, like reintroducing e-visas for Chinese tourists,’ he added.
The lawmaker called on the Chief Executive to scrap the e-visa reintroduction plan.
‘After criticizing the Chinese in the Asean, it will not look good before our neighbors and the world that we want to entice Chinese nationals to visit our country by making it convenient for them to secure tourist visas,’ he stressed.
The President told the US-Asean Summit on Sunday, ‘On the South China Sea, it is regrettable that incidents continue to occur in the West Philippine Sea that have put the lives of Philippine personnel and the safety of our vessels and aircraft at risk.’
He said the attempt by ‘some actors to establish the so-called ‘nature reserve’ status over Bajo de Masinloc, or Scarborough Shoal, which is a longstanding and integral part of the Philippines over which it has sovereignty and jurisdiction, clearly violates not only Philippine sovereignty but also the traditional fishing rights of our people.’
He emphasized that such rights are guaranteed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the final and binding 2016 South China Sea Arbitration Award, and the Philippines’ domestic law.
The Kuala Lumpur summit was attended by Asean leaders and US officials led by President Donald Trump.