MANILA, Philippines- Itinuring ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) na ‘overreaction’ ang patuloy na pagkabahala ng Tsina sa typhon missile system ng Pilipinas.
Sa isang panayam, sinabi ni DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo na ang missile system, paksa ng kritisismo ng Tsina, ay hindi naglalayon at pumupuntirya sa anumang bansa at para lamang ito sa defensive purposes.
Binigyang-diin ni Manalo na walang intensyon ang Pilipinas na ituon ang missile system sa anumang tiyak na bansa, maliban na lamang kung ang bansa (Pilipinas) ay inaatake.
“First of all the typhon missile is not aimed for any country, they are there for defense. And it’s actually the DND (Department of Defense) which is dealing with the operational aspect but in principle they are really there for our defense,” ang sinabi ni Manalo sa isang panayam.
“And therefore, I really can’t understand the continuous concern being expressed by China on their use, when you consider that China has certainly many more missiles than the Philippines. And I don’t know where they are aimed at,” dagdag na pahayag nito.
“So, I think there might be an over reaction to the typhon missiles which are clearly for defensive purposes and the Philippines have absolutely no intention of directing them at any certain country, unless we’re attacked. But that’s why they’re for defense,” wika pa ni Manalo.
Inihayag ni Manalo na ang pagkakaroon ng missile system ay ‘prerogative at karapatan’ ng bansa, kaya nga hindi dapat na kinukuwestiyon ng ibang bansa.
Iginiit pa rin ng Kalihim na hindi kailanman binatikos at pinuna ng Pilipinas ang hakbang ng ibang bansa na palakasin ang defense capability ng mga ito.
“It’s our prerogative kasi do we question what they…and if we say it’s for national defense, for security in general. Every country has a right to defend so as long as it doesn’t use it for aggressive purposes. We abide by the UN Charter but nothing in the UN Charter says that a country cannot defend itself or at least be ready to defend itself,” pahayag ni Manalo.
“We’re not using it so yun nga, I don’t really understand why there’s this deep concern on this when we already mentioned it’s not aimed at any country. And so, and we don’t criticize what they do. We don’t criticize what other countries do. They wish to build up their defenses, we never criticize them,” dagdag niya.
Kabilang sa mga pambabatikos ng Tsina ukol sa missile system ay nang ipanawagan ng una sa Pilipinas na alisin ang typhon missile launcher na idineploy ng Estados Unidos sa bansa, sabay sabing kailangan na itong matigil “going further the wrong path.”
Samantala, pinanindigan naman ng Tsina ang posisyon nito na ang Pilipinas ay “creating tensions and antagonism” sa rehiyon sa US deployment ng Mid-Range Capability missile system sa Pilipinas. Kris Jose
