PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday said the Philippines will issue a note verbale or diplomatic note to Beijing in the wake of the latest alteration between Filipino and Chinese forces near Pag-asa Island involving a floating rocket piece.
“Yes, I think that’s what we need to do,” the President said when asked if he agrees with the recommendation of National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos that a note verbale should be sent to China over the incident.
“We have to ask the Chinese why their account is so different, much more benign, than the word ‘forcibly’ in the initial report of the Philippine navy,” Marcos said.
Last Monday, China denied that one of its coast guard ships used force to retrieve a piece of a rocket that was being towed by a Philippine Coast Guard vessel.
Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, chief of the West Command, reported last Monday that a Chinese Coast Guard ship blocked a Philippine Navy ship twice and “forcefully retrieved” metallic debris recovered and being towed near the Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine last Sunday.
The floating object, according to a spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry, was debris from a rocket’s payload fairing, or casing that protects the nose-cone of a spacecraft launched by China.
Marcos said he first heard of the incident from Armed Forces Chief of Staff Bartolome Bacarro whom he had asked to call and get a report from the “military attaché in the Chinese Embassy.”
“The reports from the Philippine Navy and China do not match that because the word ‘forcibly’ was used in the Navy — in the Philippine Navy report. And that was not the characterization in the Chinese navy report or the report coming from China,” he said.
The President said he has complete trust in the Philippine Navy “and if this is what they say happened, I can only believe that that is what happened.”
Marcos said he wants further explanations from China.
“We have now asked the Chinese, why is it that their account is so different and it’s much more benign — shall we use that word — than the, because the ‘forcibly’ was used in the — at least in the initial reports of the Philippine Navy. So, we’ll have to find a way to resolve this,” he said.
He said there is a need for a “mechanism” to ensure that no such incident will happen or similar cases will happen in the future.
The President hinted that he will raise the issue when he makes a state visit to China in January.
“This is one of the things, this kind of incidents are some of the things that I’m glad that I’m going to Beijing early January because this is, these are the things that we need to work out because with the way that the region, our region, Asia-Pacific is heating up, maybe someone made an error, there’s a mistake, a misunderstanding, then it will become a big,” he said.
“So, we don’t want that to happen. So, we want to have a mechanism, we have to find a way that it will not happen again, that no more similar incident happens,” he added.
RECOMMENDATION
Carlos had recommended to the President the sending of a note verbale to China in response to its latest aggression in the West Philippine Sea.
“I made a report to the President and I gave my recommendation,” Carlos said. “What I can disclose to (the) public is the one that we’ve done before, we send (a) note verbale to China,” said Carlos, who chairs the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea.
Carlos said the Chinese government should be informed about the recent discussion between Marcos and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the sidelines of the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Cambodia.
“They (Marcos and Xi) said they were going to prioritize constructive engagement and critical dialogue and this happened. This keeps on happening. What is the point of the statement made by their leader, Xi Jinping? Does it have a weight?” said Carlos.
Carlos said the government will be pursuing further dialogue with China but said the Chinese should understand the Philippine’s “supreme national interests,” which are to protect its territory and its people.
In his report, Carlos said the Chinese Coast Guard personnel, onboard a Rigid Hull Inflatable Boat, “forcefully retrieved” the object from the Navy ship by cutting the towing line attached to their rubber boat.
The Chinese Embassy claimed Philippine Navy personnel “returned” the object after a “friendly consultation.”
“The President himself said that the West Philippine Sea is not our only relation with China.
We have economic, cultural and social relations with them but I hope China should understand that our supreme national interest is to protect our territory, our people and our sea,” said Carlos.
Military officials declined to comment about the Chinese embassy statement.
Visiting US Vice President Kamala Harris took a shot at China’s latest aggression, saying: “As an ally, the United States stands with the Philippines in the face of intimidation and coercion in the South China Sea.”
Harris issued the statement while addressing Philippine Coast Guard personnel, local government leaders and community leaders aboard the PCG’s BRP Teresa Magbanua.
Harris reiterated US support to the 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that rejected what Harris described as “China’s expansive South China Sea maritime claim. — With Victor Reyes and Reuters
