A number of lawmakers on Tuesday were dismayed with the action of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who they said appeared to be favoring China even after a Chinese warship aimed a radar gun on a Philippine Navy ship at the country’s territory within the West Philippine Sea.
Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said Lorenzana seemed to preempt the investigation on the issue by telling the public that China has no intention to harm the Navy, “but was merely testing what the reaction of the Filipinos will be.”
“The Defense Secretary was preempting the investigation (of the House). He’s like a fortune teller in favor of Beijing, when a diplomatic protest was already filed because of their violations,” said Brosas.
“The Armed Forces should not turn blind and deaf to this violation of our country’s sovereign rights. A thorough investigation is needed, not just guesswork or dismissiveness,” added the congresswoman.
For his part, Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate doesn’t believe China is just testing the Philippine Navy, since it initially intimidated the Filipinos verbally, before later on, pointed a radar gun on the claimant.
“Whether they fired their radar gun or not, China’s intention is clear: to bully the Philippine Navy and small countries like the Philippines who are claimants to the WPS. Before, they only used verbal threats, now they are pointing their guns at us,” said Zarate.
He added that if the government will continue to ignore the matter and won’t take any action to defend the Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea, Zarate will no longer be surprised if the time comes when China will directly fire at the Navy.
“Tomorrow or soon, they will fire their guns to stress their desire to claim our territories,” according to Zarate.
Even House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante wasn’t in favor of Lorenzana’s statement, since the firing of the radar gun took place inside the Philippine territory.
“Whether China has an intention or not, the fact they did it is a very clear provocation. Are we going to allow China to always provoke us like this incident?” asked Abante.
The Manila lawmaker requested the Navy to be strong and not be threatened since it is inside the Philippine territory.
Meanwhile, the incident where a Chinese corvette pointed its gun director control at a Filipino naval ship last Feb. 17 will not affect China’s donation of medical supplies to the Philippines.
In a Laging Handa briefing aired over state-run PTV-4 Tuesday, Lorenzana said the incident has nothing to do with Beijing’s efforts to donate medical supplies to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
Based on reports from Joint Task Force West, the BRP Conrado Yap (PS-39) left Puerto Princesa Pier, Palawan on Feb. 15 to do territorial defense operations and sovereignty patrol at the Malampaya Natural Gas to Power Project and at the Kalayaan Island Group in the West Philippine Sea.
While en route to the Rizal Reef Detachment, the ship’s crew detected on radar a grey vessel, prompting the Filipino naval craft to issue a radio challenge.
The other ship responded by saying “the Chinese government has (immutable) sovereignty over the South China Sea, its islands and its adjacent waters.”
BRP Conrado Yap again challenged the vessel and then instructed to proceed directly to its next destination to which the Chinese ship repeated its earlier response and maintained its course and speed.