MANILA, Philippines- Nais ng Pilipinas na makausap ang Tsina sa gitna ng nagpapatuloy na tensyon sa West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Kasunod ng pulong ng National Maritime Council noong Biyernes, Hunyo 21, sinabi ni Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Secretary Enrique Manalo sa Senate inquiry, araw ng Martes, Hunyo 25, pinananatili ng DFA na ang “primacy of dialogue and diplomacy should prevail even in the face of these serious incidents,” sa kabila ng pag-amin nito na “it’s also a challenge.”
“We will pursue the peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international laws, specifically the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award. And we have been working hard to bring back China to the table to talk with us to resolve differences on these issues,” ayon kay Manalo.
Ani Manalo, mayroong umiiral na mekanismo na tinatawag na Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) sa South China Sea (SCS).
Isang working group ang binuo noong nakaraang linggo bilang paghahanda para sa BCM meeting kasama ang kanilang Chinese counterparts sa Hulyo.
“We had a working group meeting last week in preparation for what we hope will be a meeting of the BCM, the Bilateral Consultation Mechanism. We hope to be held in early July with our Chinese counterparts, specifically to discuss the recent incidents,” ayon kay Manalo.
“Also to see whether we can arrive at some understandings which could help, understandings, I mean some kinds of confidence-building measures which could hopefully create a basis then for more serious discussions to see how we can address these other issues,” dagdag na wika nito.
Maliban sa pagtuligsa sa kamakailan lamang na insidente sa WPS, binigyang-diin ni Manalo sa Senate inquiry na ang naging aksyon ng Tsina ay hindi alinsunod sa ‘understanding’ o pagkakaunawaan sa pagitan nina Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos Jr. at Chinese President Xi Jinping na pangasiwaan ng dalawang bansa ang pinagtatalunang katubigan.
“While we have a policy, still, as agreed by President Marcos and President Xi Jinping, that we agreed our government should seek to manage our maritime differences and not let incidents define our bilateral relations. It’s clear that many of these recent incidents by China are inconsistent with this declared intention,” ayon sa Kalihim.
Dahil dito, winika ni Manalo na ang DFA “sternly communicated” sa kanilang counterparts na “it was really incomprehensible how the delivery of basic necessities to our troops on the [BRP] Sierra Madre could be considered a provocation that would justify an increased level of Chinese actions and so, therefore, we believe their actions only intensified and escalated tensions and certainly, something we should be concerned about.”
Samantala, sinabi naman ng Pilipinas na ang pinakabagong insidente sa Ayungin Shoal sa pagitan ng Filipino troops at China Coast Guard ay “neither a misunderstanding nor an accident.”
“It is a deliberate act of the Chinese officialdom to prevent us from completing our mission,” giit ni Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. Kris Jose
