Cayetano won’t go to Sandy Cay just to prove PH still controls the area

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano on Friday said it would not be prudent for him to go to Sandy Cay just to prove that the Philippines still has control over the area.

Cayetano said he would not heed the challenge of Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano, who claimed that China has been in control of the sandbar since last year.

“He wants to challenge me to go there to have trouble. It would not be prudent for me to go,” Cayetano said.

READ: Alejano rebuts Cayetano: China has been in control of Sandy Cay since 2017

Cayetano said Alejano and some critics were lying when they claimed that China is now in control of Sandy Cay,  a sandbar off the coast of Pag-asa island that had permanently risen above the waters.

“They are liars. They are trying to take down the government. They are lying left and right about it,” Cayetano said.

Alejano earlier claimed that Chinese ships are permanently stationed near Sandy Cay, preventing the Philippines from exercising control over the area.

However, Cayetano insisted that the Philippines still has control over Sandy Cay.

In an interview with CNN Philippines, Cayetano said, “tayo (we),” referring to the Philippines, when asked about which country has control over the area.

Cayetano also pointed out that Philippine authorities are free to guard the area. “We’re free to patrol there. Our fishermen can go,” he said.

He also explained that Sandy Cay remains “uninhabited,” citing the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) in 2002 signed by the Philippines, China, and other claimant nations.

Cayetano said if Alejano wants to go to Sandy Cay, he could and the the DFA chief would even provide him an escort. “He can. I’ll have somebody accompany him,” Cayetano said.  /vvp