THE PHILIPPINES has no assurance that the United States of America will remain by its side if war breaks out in the disputed South China Sea region, President Rodrigo R. Duterte said.
Mr. Duterte made his remarks during the ceremonial opening of an onshore oil project in Alegria, Cebu, on Saturday, May 19.
“You know, that’s my lamentation. We are in the West Philippine Sea, but we have a problem,” he said.
“We are caught in a limbo. We don’t have the assurance that America will remain by our side if a war breaks out,” he added.
The Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) said last Friday, May 18, that the Pezople’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) of China has “landed bombers, including the top-of-the-line H-6K, on an outpost in the South China Sea for the first time.”
“Nearly all of the Philippines falls within the radius of the bombers, including Manila and all five Philippine military bases earmarked for development under the U.S.-Philippines Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement,” the AMTI said on its Web site.
“China has built large hangars at all three of its ‘Big 3’ outposts in the Spratlys (Subi, Mischief, and Fiery Cross Reefs) that can accommodate bombers like the H-6 series (as well as large transport, patrol, and refueling aircraft),” the AMTI said.
Mr. Duterte told his audience in Cebu: “Don’t believe that I didn’t do anything about the issue, that I just let it be. I told him [Chinese President Xi Jinping] this straight. I said, ‘I’m going there to dig my oil.’”
“And then he (Chinese president Xi Jinping) said, ‘We have just become friends and we have just begun to get to know each other. Let’s not ruin the relationship that we have.’”
“He’s Chinese. That’s how they are. You know, my grandfather was a Chinese based in Cebu. From here,” the President added.
He also said China has planes, “not stationed in Spratlys but in Chinese provinces facing… the South China Sea.”
“And with their hypersonic, they can reach Manila within seven to 10 minutes. If we will go to a full-blown war, where would Philippines end up in?” the President added.
In his speech last February, Mr. Duterte said China’s military bases in the South China Sea were built to defend itself against any attack by the United States.
“The Chinese bases are not intended for us. The contending ideological powers of the world or the geopolitics has greatly changed. [The bases] are really intended against those who the Chinese think would destroy them, and that is America,” Mr. Duterte said at the 20th Founding Anniversary Celebration of the Chinese Filipino-Business Club on Feb. 19.
Senators also expressed concern over recent developments in the disputed waters.
“I am not in favor China’s actions. If they are truly a friend, why are they continuing to occupying Philippine territory? Somehow we need to stand up and protect our territorial integrity through a diplomatic protest or whatever means,” Senator Joseph Victor G. Ejercito said in a radio interview.
This developed amid talks between the Philippines and the United States Pacific Command (US PaCom) led by its chief Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr. in Honolulu, Hawaii to discuss “critical regional and international issues,” the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on Sunday.
The Philippine delegation included Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano, Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana, Interior and Local Government Officer-in-Charge Eduardo M. Año, Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel G. Romualdez, and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr.
Senator Risa N. Hontiveros-Baraquel in a statement on Sunday said: “As a country with a Constitution that renounces war as an instrument of national policy and the use of nuclear weapons, the Philippines must sponsor a resolution before the UN condemning China’s threat of nuclear war against the Philippines and demand that it comply with the ruling of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) arbitral tribunal.”
“The Senate should form a strong stand… We must condemn this creeping invasion of our territory and sovereignty,” Senate Minority Leader Franklin M. Drilon said in a radio interview Sunday.
For his part, Magdalo Representative Gary C. Alejano said: “This is a global concern. Right now, the Philippine government is acting selfishly, and foolishly, by dismissing the installation of military-grade weapons as something not to be concerned about.” — Arjay L. Balinbin, with Camille A. Aguinaldo and Charmaine A. Tadalan

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