Belmonte gets sea panel chair

Former Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr.      INQUIRER PHOTO/LYN RILLON

FORMER Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has been given the chairmanship of the House committee on the West Philippine Sea.

In an interview with reporters, Belmonte said he found the newly created committee timely in view of the Philippines’ victory at the United Nations Tribunal in The Hague.

Belmonte said the committee’s priority would be to make sure that China would abide by the arbitral tribunal’s ruling that the Philippines’ sovereignty in this part of the South China Sea be respected.

“We should not take these things for granted. Where have you seen that a foreign military base is right at your doorstep,” said Belmonte, who was part of the Philippine delegation that presented the Philippines case in The Hague.

Belmonte said he was given a choice of committee by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as one of the Liberal Party’s perks as a member of the majority coalition led by the PDP-Laban. Gil Cabacungan