MANILA: The Philippines has been complying with the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and it is China that has been violating it, Defence Secretary Voltaire Gazmin maintained.
“We’ve been adhering to the (declaration). We’ve been following the DOC. We did not violate anything,” Gazmin said.
Asked if China is adhering to the declaration, Gazmin said “No. They don’t. That’s why we have filed successive protests.”
His remarks follow a report by China’s state-run news agency Xinhua quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei Chinese as saying that claimants in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) row should “fully and earnestly implement” the DOC.
Hong also called on the countries to “refrain from actions that could amplify or complicate the issue, and avoid any action that could undermine peace and stability in the region.”
Despite China’s violations of the DOC, the Philippines will continue to strive to de-escalate tensions in the West Philippine Sea, Gazmin said. “We have to avoid escalating the problem since we have filed cases (before the international tribunal) to avoid jeopardising legal proceedings.”
Vice President Jejomar Binay said Manila must fight until the last man to retain Ayungin Shoal.
He said the government is trying to pre-empt a bloody solution to the issue on the Ayungin targeted by China. “We are pre-empting because remember we have case for arbitration. That is a peaceful solution.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs said China has no right to dictate to the Philippines what it can do in its maritime domain.
Spokesman Raul Hernandez said the rotation of personnel and their provisioning by the Armed Forces of the Philippines is a sovereign and humanitarian duty.
“The Philippines exercises jurisdiction and sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone and continental shelf in the West Philippine Sea and has all the right to undertake lawful activities within its maritime domain without any interference or objection by any other state.” He said Ayungin is an integral part of the Philippines.
He urged China to withdraw from the Philippine exclusive economic zone and continental shelf. “As President Aquino said, we will defend what is ours. China has no right to be there.”
Hong also said China will never accept the seizure of the Ren’ai Reef over which Beijing has indisputable sovereignty. “China’s determination and will to safeguard its sovereignty is unswerving, and it will never accept the Philippines’ illegal seizure of the Ren’ai Reef in any form.” He said China has indisputable sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its surrounding waters. He recalled how a Philippine warship landed on the beach of the Ren’ai Reef of China’s Nansha Islands in 1999, claiming it had been stranded and said since then China had urged the Philippines to tow the warship. But Manila said it has not dragged away the warship because of a “lack of parts,” stressing that it does not have any intention of building any facilities on the reef.
Agencies
