By Ian Nicolas P. Cigaral
Reporter

PRESIDENT RODRIGO R. Duterte on Monday dismissed the reported presence of Chinese vessels in Sandy Cay near Pag-asa Island in the disputed South China Sea, saying Beijing promised him that it will stop new occupations of sea features.

“Why should I defend a sandbar and kill the Filipinos because of a sandbar?” Mr. Duterte told reporters in an interview in Malacañang, adding that the Chinese ships there were just “patrolling” the area.

“China assured me that they will not build anything there,” he said.

China claims most parts of South China Sea, where trillion dollars’ worth of ship-borne goods pass through annually. But the Asian power’s maritime ambitions were challenged by the Philippines, another claimant nation, in the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague that ruled in Manila’s favor last year.

Last week, Rep. Gary C. Alejano of Magdalo Party-list released images of Chinese vessels, including fishing, coast guard, and navy ships that he said had been operating near the Philippine-controlled Pag-asa Island.

Mr. Alejano further claimed that the fishing ships included members of China’s maritime militia that blocked Philippine-flagged vessels. A helicopter dispatched from one of the Chinese naval vessels was also seen hovering over unoccupied sandbars, he said.

The lawmaker’s report was later confirmed by US-based think tank Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI) through satellite images. AMTI said China possibly wanted to “dissuade” Manila from its planned upgrades on Pag-asa.

‘SPECULATING’
Senior Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio, who was among those who argued in closed court hearings in The Hague, earlier explained that the arbitral award “extensively discussed” Sandy Cay, which is located between Pag-asa Island and Zamora Reef.

According to Mr. Carpio, Sandy Cay is a disappearing high-tide sandbar and appears only for a few months. But due to China’s “dredging” in Subi Reef, pulverized corals gathered by waves at Sandy Cay made it “permanently above water at high-tide”.

“As a high-tide elevation, Sandy Cay is now land or territory capable of sovereign ownership with its own territorial sea and territorial airspace,” he said in a statement.

“If China acquires sovereignty over Sandy Cay, it can now claim Subi Reef as part of the territorial sea of Sandy Cay, legitimizing China’s claim over Subi Reef and removing Subi Reef from the continental shelf of the Philippines,” he added.

“The very least that they could do now is to vigorously protest this invasion of Philippine territory by China.”

Mr. Duterte brushed aside the comments of the member of the country’s Supreme Court, saying Mr. Carpio was only “speculating” and that the Philippines must avoid confrontations with China.

“That is not true. China would not do that… he (Mr. Carpio) should go out there and find for himself,” the President said.

“I believe in the word of [China], if they break out, so hindi na ako mag-bilib sa kanila (I won’t have faith in them anymore).”

Taking office shortly before Manila’s legal victory against China, Mr. Duterte set aside PCA’s verdict, pursuing instead friendly ties with Beijing and seeking billions of dollars in aid and investment while berating traditional ally, the US.

While Washington is not a claimant nation and maintains it takes no sides in the territorial conflict, it has condemned what it qualified as China’s “militarization” of the sea and has repeatedly deployed warships in waters close to reefs occupied by Beijing.

In the same news conference on Monday, Mr. Duterte said he would no longer seek help from the US because the country, whose officials had questioned his bloody war on drugs, has “lost” his trust.

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