Palace to ask China on reported plan to build station on Panatag Shoal

The Philippine government will inquire from China if it is true that it intends to construct an environmental monitoring station at Panatag Shoal.

Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella says, the Palace will seek information from Chinese authorities to clarify the accuracy of the report.

This reported plan surfaced after two senators in the United States asked that China to be sanctioned for preparing to build the structure on the disputed shoal northeast of the Spratly islands.

China took control of the Panatag Shoal five years ago.

It only allowed Filipino fishermen to return to the area after President Rodrigo Duterte’s trip to China in 2016.