Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 2) — The Philippines will protest China’s reported construction of a maritime rescue center in the West Philippine Sea once it is verified, the country’s top diplomat said Saturday.
In a series of tweets, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin Jr. agreed with Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio’s stance that the country should take action after China opened a new facility on Fiery Cross Reef or Kagitingan Reef. This is one of the China-occupied artificial islands in the Spratlys being claimed by both Manila and Beijing.
“And we will (protest). I however preferred engaging them openly on the floor of the UN General Assembly,” Locsin said. In another tweet, he clarified that the term used should be “protest,” not “contest” as Carpio put it.
“However if we decide to contest Chinese activity I am preparing a draft [or] a compulsory draft into the AFP first of media and then maybe others to send into contested zone. We’ll see what happens and if it will be ground for something stronger than a diplomatic protest. No loss,” he added.
For now, he said the DFA is awaiting the assessment of National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon, adding that the government “cannot rely on media accounts,” which he called “unreliable.” However, it was state-run Chinese news outfit Xinhua that first reported the establishment of the rescue center, quoting China’s Ministry of Transport.
In response to Carpio’s statement that the Philippines in the past protested China’s actions in disputed waters, Locsin said the Duterte administration has filed “18 or 19 so far.” It is not immediately known in what form these diplomatic protests are, and for what incidents.
The DFA, previously under former Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, has insisted that it has filed hundreds of diplomatic protests against China for its incursions in the West Philippine Sea, an area of the South China Sea within the Philippines’ 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.
The exact number varies, with Cayetano saying during a House probe in May 2018 that the Philippines has filed “50 to 100” protests, while the DFA said in June that the country was engaged in 85 “diplomatic actions” on the South China Sea row.
Meanwhile, Malacañang has deferred to Locsin for an official position on China’s rescue center on Kagitingan Reef. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo even said, “maybe we should be thankful” for the distress center – if China had informed the Philippines before launching it. He said he does not think it affects the country’s claim in the long-standing maritime dispute.