Bring China actions to int’l level, Zubiri urges Executive after Ayungin

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Monday urged the Executive Department to heed the Senate's recommendation to bring China’s harassment against Filipinos and Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) before the international community after the water cannon incident at Ayungin Shoal.

“Although none of us here champion hostility, nor endorse the very tactics that we condemn, but all of us here are tired of the status quo. Paulit-ulit na lang itong nangyayari sa ating Coast Guard at sa ating mga mangingisda [This just keeps happening to our Coast Guard and to our fishermen],” Zubiri said in a privilege speech.

“On the search for better strategies, I urge the Executive to run the point, using all viable tools at its disposal, such as a possible joint patrol over the West Philippine Sea with our allies, and the ones we have enumerated in our resolution,” he added.

Last week, the Senate unanimously adopted a resolution condemning China’s incursions in the WPS and its continued harassment of Filipino fishermen.

Among the courses of action enumerated in the adopted resolution are:

• Bringing international attention to China’s harassment of Filipino fishermen in the Philippine EEZ and its continued violation of the Hague Ruling and the UNCLOS
• Utilizing international fora to rally multilateral support for the enforcement of the Hague Ruling and raise awareness on the real situation in the WPS
• Engaging like-minded countries in various international organizations, meetings, and other fora to call on China to respect the Hague Ruling and the UNCLOS and subject to necessity and prudence
• Filing a resolution before the UNGA to call for the cessation of all activities that harass the Philippine vessels and violate the Philippines’ established rights in the WPS
• Pursuing such other diplomatic modes as the DFA may deem appropriate and necessary

On Saturday, August 5, the China Coast Guard trained a water cannon at a Philippine supply vessel on its way to Ayungin Shoal, saying that it "illegally" entered its waters.

“This incident reaffirms the merit of the resolution the Senate has unanimously passed last week. That resolution illuminates the way forward. Because China contemptuously ignores protests, all the more that we have to rally the world to condemn acts which have no place in a civilized order. This is a defining moment for this Senate,” Zubiri said.

“The international system remains one of law, and in this we have the advantage. Might does not make right, and neither does it make fiction a reality,” he added.

While the Philippines lacks in military force, Zubiri said, the country has the advantage in the law and in goodwill.

“China is a titan, that is a given. Their military expenditure alone is 70 times that of ours. We are even more dwarfed in terms of ships built. We are outmanned and outgunned. The peace we seek will not grow from the barrel of our guns,” he said.

Zubiri also took a swipe at China for showing “diplomatic duplicity” for “professing friendship but practicing hostile behavior.”

“Bobolahin tayo nila na kaibigan daw sila natin. Tapos sa isang iglap bobombahin ng tubig ang ating mga barko,” he said.

[They will deceive us into thinking they are our friend. Then in an instant they will bombard our vessels with water.]

“How can they convince us that they are sincere when one day they shower a former president of ours with praises and assurances in Beijing, and then shortly after, the next day, they fire water cannons on our ship,” he went on.

Despite this, the Senate president said the Philippines retains friendly relations with China.

“We have filed protests and note verbales—again today, another note verbale was sent to Beijing—in the hundreds, too many to count, but enough, I think, to gift-wrap its embassy here with the paper it was written on,” he said.

“Although they have repaid our hospitality with hostility, harassment and hosing down of our ships, we do not give up on the hope that it is weaned of its bullying ways and with the world’s help and influence to finally recognize our sovereignty in our very own water,” he added.

Zubiri also warned of China’s capability to “put a choke hold on the global trade” if it is left undeterred, noting that one third of global shipping passes through the South China Sea, where the WPS is a part of.

“The Hague Tribunal is fully in our favor, and so is the rest of the world… By simply following the rules, particularly of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, as expected of a member of nations and signatory to this, China can make the West Philippine Sea a zone of peace, a place of progress, and an example of coexistence,” he said.

Zubiri was joined by his colleagues, Senators Francis Tolentino, Jinggoy Estrada, Ramon Revilla, Risa Hontiveros, Robin Padilla, Loren Legarda, Joel Villanueva, Bong Go, and Ronald dela Rosa, in condemning the recent incident in the WPS. — BM, GMA Integrated News