De Lima hits visit of Chinese coast guard to PH

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Leila de Lima on Monday frowned on the visit of the Chinese Coast Guard to the country, adding that the Philippines should be “wary” of such visits from a nation that  “regularly intimidates” Filipino fishermen.

“Imagine our Coast Guard discussing protocols at sea with the very people who regularly intimidate our own fishermen, in our own territory! (President Rodrigo) Duterte gives the best seat at the banquet table to China, while we wait for whatever crumbs they might throw around,” she said in a dispatch from Camp Crame.

De Lima issued this statement as the Chinese Coast Guard embarks on a goodwill visit to the Philippines.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) chief Admiral Joel Garcia had earlier denied that the visit of the Chinese Coast Guard is a “red carpet treatment,” citing “diplomatic reciprocity” between the two countries.

But De Lima said “our dealings with China have always been under the guise of this ‘diplomatic reciprocity’ that has allowed them to impose upon our territorial rights in the West Philippine Sea.”

“There is nothing closely diplomatic nor reciprocal in a relationship between two countries where one takes over the other country’s jobs, resources, and gets the upper hand when it comes to economic agreements,” she said.

“Despite Gen. Joel Garcia’s denial, it is a red carpet that will be rolled out this week for the primary arm of China’s intrusion and intimidation in the WPS – the Chinese Coast Guard,” she added.

De Lima, one of Duterte’s staunch critics, said that while the government will invoke sovereignty “in the face of increasing international condemnation against the Duterte regime’s abuses” it will still “allow China’s brazen intrusion behind the veil of ‘friendly, diplomatic ties’.”

“This, however, does not come as a surprise anymore,” she said.

“They are selling our sovereignty to their Chinese benefactors, who never and will never have the interests of the Philippines and the Filipino people in their list of priorities,” she added.

She then called on the Filipino people to fight for the country.

“Panahon na upang ipaglaban natin ang ating sarili, ang ating mga (kalayaan, kaligtasan at kasarinlan) laban sa mga banyagang sasakop sa teritoryo, ekonomiya at pamahalaan natin,” she said.

“But to accomplish this, we have to understand that the most dangerous are the charismatic enemies from within,” she added.

The Philippines and China are locked in a longstanding maritime dispute over the South China Sea with Beijing claiming nearly the entire South China Sea, including parts of the West Philippine Sea.

In January 2013, the Philippines filed a case challenging the expansive claims of China in the South China Sea before the United Nations Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The arbitral tribunal ruled in favor of the country’s sovereignty over the WPS in July 2016, which China refused to recognize.

President Rodrigo Duterte has chosen to set aside the ruling and pursue warmer ties with the Asian economic powerhouse in exchange for aid and investments.