MANILA – The Philippines on Monday challenged China to make the Bajo de Masinloc or the Scarborough Shoal available to international scrutiny after the latter allegedly destroyed the shoal’s marine environment.
According to National Security Council spokesperson Jonathan Malaya, there was a growing consensus within the Philippine government on the need to file a case against China over the destruction of coral reefs.
“If you really believe in what you’re saying, open up Bajo de Masinloc to international scrutiny, it has to be a third party,” Malaya said in a press conference on Monday.
The Philippines secured a landmark victory in 2016 a case against China that concluded Beijing’s claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea had no basis under international law.
China, which has refused to recognize the 2016 ruling and has chafed at repeated mention of the case by Western powers, has repeatedly denied the claims of destruction of coral reefs.
Meanwhile, Malaya said Filipino fishermen will continue to sail and fish in the contested waters despite a new China regulation that their coast guard can arrest trespassers.
“The Philippines will continue to sail and fish in these waters,” Malaya said. “The Philippines will not be intimidated nor coerced by the new China regulation.”
Malaya also called on other coastal states to ignore China’s new regulation and continue what they are doing in the contested waters.
“China has no sovereignty in the high seas. The new China regulation is just a scare tactic and provocative to increase tensions in the West Philippines Sea,” Malaya said./PN
