Saying that former President Rodrigo Duterte afforded them “too much respect” during his six-year term, Senator Christopher Go urged China to respect and stop bullying the Philippines.
“I am urging the government of China, our former President had just [come from] there. Stop bullying us,” said Go, a close associate of the former President who served as his special assistant before he won a Senate seat.
Go was supposed to accompany Duterte during his week-long visit to China President Xi Jinping, but failed to do so due to his busy schedule.
He reminded China that Duterte was good to them during his administration. He even pivoted away from the Philippines’ traditional alliance with the United States after then-US President Barack Obama strongly criticized Duterte’s bloody war on drugs.
“While we are a small country, they will do that to us,” said Go.
China’s Coast Guard ships used a water cannon against a Philippine vessel in the West Philippine Sea while it was delivering supplies to Ayungin shoal on Saturday.
Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said they were informed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that Duterte told China’s Xi “to look kindly on the Philippines.”
Asked if this appeal seemed effective, Go said Duterte was no longer president of the Philippines.
“That’s a personal trip. He’s no longer the president,” he said. “He went there upon the invitation of a school, a foundation for the inauguration of the Solidad Duterte building, a school there.”
While there, Duterre was invited by President Xi, so he went, Go added.
Go said the Philippines “should fight for what it won,” referring to the ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that declared the West Philippine Sea to be within the country’s exclusive economic zone.
The ruling invalidated China’s nine-dash line and sweeping claim in the South China Sea.
Senator Risa Hontiveros said the Chinese Communication Construction Co. (CCCC), a Chinese state-owned company operating in the Philippines, should also be banned from the country.
“China is not a friend. She is not even a good neighbor…. Banning one of their state-owned companies is a way to tell China that we will not tolerate any abuse anymore,” Hontiveros said.
The Marcos administration had resumed canceled loan applications with the CCCC for the Davao-Digos Rail segment, the Calamba-Matnog long haul rail, and the Subic-Clark Rail.
But Hontiveros said it was in the country’s interest to decline any CCCC funding.
“There is no unique advantage to having Chinese banks and Chinese contractors being involved in these mega projects. One might even argue that the ADB (Asian Development Bank) or Japan, and maybe even the Philippine private sector, will be a better match for these projects,” the senator said.
“If the Tutuban-to-Clark rail is based on Japanese technology and ADB environmental and social safeguards, we might as well choose them for other connected projects,” she added.
In 2020, Hontiveros also called on the government to drop projects with the CCCC, after it was revealed that it was among the dozens of companies that contributed to the dredging and construction of artificial militarized islands in the WPS.
“The CCCC is a predatory company. It works in conjunction with the Chinese maritime militia to deliberately destroy coral reefs in the WPS and poach endangered giant clams. It acts in the guise of a legitimate business, but it is only aiding the Chinese state in its creeping invasion.
“The Executive should also look into existing government projects with this company and stop any engagements as soon as possible. “
Meanwhile, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez urged President Marcos to take “more drastic” actions against the newest “harassment and bullying tactic” employed by China on Philippine Coast Guard and Philippine Navy vessels.
“I ask the President to downgrade our embassy in Beijing to show our deep indignation, anger, and protest over the water cannon blast by the Chinese Coast Guard on our personnel,” he said.
“The President should also order our unusually quiet and inactive ambassador there to return to Manila and to replace him with a lower-level diplomatic officer,” he said.
Rodriguez, chair of the House committee on constitutional amendments, said the administration “should now firmly address these continuous violations of our sovereignty rights over the West Philippine Sea.”
“We cannot allow these harassment and bullying tactics and encroachment on our maritime territory to continue. We have to take more drastic actions, instead of filing the usual diplomatic protest note,” he said.
Also on Monday, Defense Senior Undersecretary Irineo Espina said the Philippines will have the capability to fight China if it passes amendments to the decades-old National Defense Act of 1935.
Espina said the law supports not only procurement, but also modernization, which does not buy second-hand guns, but sophisticated weapons.
In the same hearing, Senator Ronald dela Rosa said modernization should include guarantees that the military structure is adaptable to the changing times.
Senator Jinggoy Estrada, who presided over the hearing, said it would also be useful if the discussions of defense could be framed with the recent aggression encountered by the Philippine Coast Guard from the Chinese Coast Guard.
Estrada said it was high time the country got its act together, fortified its defense establishment, and made it responsive to the times.
Amid the simmering dispute between Manila and Beijing, the administration has increased the P50 billion budget of the AFP Modernization Program.
“The AFPMP is set to receive another P50 billion in fresh funding in the 2024 national budget,” Surigao del Sur Rep. Johnny Pimentel said in a statement on Monday.
“The P50 billion in programmed new appropriations is all for capital outlay and shall be used exclusively to bankroll the funding requirements of the AFPMP,” Pimentel, a staunch backer of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) between Manila and Washington, said.
“We are most exposed to threats coming from the sea, so we definitely favor larger modernization projects for the Philippine Navy and the Philippine Marine Corps in the years ahead,” Pimentel said.