Senator Francis Tolentino, updating fellow lawmakers on the situation in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, delivered a privileged speech Wednesday, prodding the Senate and the House of,Representatives to boost the governments’ maritime security forces and diplomats to “ensure Philippine interests.”
As the Senate’s 2022 session ends, Senator Tolentino urged members of the Legislature and the country’s maritime security forces and diplomats to ensure that Philippine interests in the West Philippine Sea are protected and enhanced.
The senator, in his privileged speech, recalled the November 2022 incident when the China Coast Guard’s (CCG) forcefully retrieved debris from a Chinese Long March 5B rocket which fell within the Pag-asa Islands Territorial Sea.
Tolentino deplored the incident was “a gross violation of Philippine sovereignty” under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
He cited reports that Chinese diplomats denied that the incident occurred, claiming that a “friendly” consultation took place, but footage and reports clearly showed the CCG assertively taking the space debris in an area well within sovereign Philippine territory.
The senator stressed these incidents cannot be allowed to continue, warning that “they not only can potentially harm Filipino fishermen but the China Coast Guard’s actions also violate Philippine maritime rights as enshrined in the UNCLOS and the Arbitral Award.”
Tolentino prodded members of the military and diplomatic corps to continue to “denounce the brazen intrusions into Philippine maritime territory and assert the country’s rights,” invoking the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award.
Moreover, the Senator also stressed the call “for all to strengthen and solidify Philippine strategic alliances towards this end.”
Image credits: PCG