MANILA – China is not a “reliable ally” of the Philippines, according to Sen. Richard Gordon.
“Alliances are best seen by the actions of a people. You are not a reliable ally,” he said.
Gordon was talking about the Chinese Coast Guard reportedly taking the catch of Filipino fishermen at the disputed West Philippine Sea.
He added that the Chinese Coast Guard confiscating the Filipino fish catch was “an unfriendly act.”
“Hindi naman threat ‘yan. The fishermen are not threats…We are not enemies of China but [they] are treating us as if we are interlopers in our own country,” Gordon stressed.
Gordon asked the Duterte administration to remind China that the ownership of the islands is still being contested.
Aside from the Philippines and China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have also made claims over the resource-rich sea.
“We cannot go just meekly by. Dapat umabot sa kanila (China) ‘yan. ‘Wag niyo kaming kayakayanin,” said Gordon. “Hindi kami naghihimasok sa bansa ng iba. At the very least, pinag-uusapan pa lang kung sino ang nagmamay-ari niyan. ‘E bakit ba pinakikialaman ng Chinese coast guards yung mga mangingisda na Pilipino, Vietnamese at yung ibang may claim din diyan?”
The government must make necessary investments in the Armed Forces “to ensure its capability to defend the country from threats and to protect its territories,” Gordon added.
“That is for us, that is our land. Hindi lang natin maipairal dahil kulang tayo sa barko. We have to build our Navy, we have to build our Air Force, we have to have submarines para meron tayong ipantapat. Hindi naman kailangang malaki, basta meron lang tayong panlaban,” he said./PN
