Senators urge diplomacy on Spratly incursion issue

MANILA, Philippines—Given the country’s lack of military power, diplomacy should be the first and last option when dealing with incursions by foreign aircraft or ships into Philippine territory, senators said on Monday.

“For sure diplomacy should be the first option. The last thing you would want to do is mount a cannon there and hit an aircraft. That will spell big trouble for us,” Sen. Francis Escudero told reporters in a briefing.

Escudero said President Benigno Aquino III did the prudent thing by meeting with visiting Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie.

“Just because one has overstepped territorial boundaries we should immediately fire at the enemy. Diplomacy should be the first step and option before anything else,” he said.

The solution, the senator said, lay not only with fortifying the military but with strengthening the country in terms of “influence, stature and economy.”

Two other senators—Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate defense committee, and Gregorio Honasan II—agreed.

They said the government should air the issue in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which the Philippines is a member.

“It’s still diplomacy. Can we fight China head on?” Lacson told reporters.

“Just because we are weak militarily, we should not be taken advantage of by strong countries,” he said, adding that Congress should not take any action for now and allow the executive branch to resolve the matter first with the Chinese government.

Honasan said the Philippine government should avoid a confrontation with a superpower like China.

“We have no chance whatsoever militarily and economically if we choose confrontation,” he told reporters.

“Let’s use the regional alliance, Asean + Three (Japan, China and South Korea). ‘They’re now intruding into our territory, you might be next.’ Let’s talk so we can present our case to China. The buzz words are alliance, nonconfrontation, joint use and diplomacy.”

But if everything else fails, the government should file a protest with foreign embassies in cases of confirmed incursions, Lacson and Honasan said.

“That’s the ultimate option,” Lacson said.