By Cielito M. Reganit
President Rodrigo Duterte arrives at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City to attend the 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing on September 13. (MNS photo)
MANILA (PNA) – President Rodrigo Duterte said Tuesday the Philippines would no longer join any patrol expeditions in the West Philippine Sea even as he asserted the country’s entitlements to portions of the disputed waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone.
In his speech during the 48th anniversary celebrations of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing, the President said he would not involve the Philippines in hostile acts beyond its territorial waters.
“We will not join any expedition of patrolling the sea. I will not allow it because I don’t want my country to be involved in a hostile act,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte, flanked by Philippine Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Edgar Fallorina and Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, sings the national anthem during the opening rite of the 48th anniversary of the 250th Presidential Airlift Wing at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City on September 13. (MNS photo)
“When you patrol — not on the high seas but some other else’s territory — whether it is really owned by us, which the law says, the judgment says, ‘Atin yan entitlements’ (‘Those are our entitlements’) at sabihin naman ng isa, (and the other would say) – China – ‘That’s beside the point’. The point is I do not want to ride gung-ho style there with China or with America,” the President said.
“I just want to patrol our territorial waters… We do not go into a patrol or join any other army from now because I do not want trouble,” he said.
In the meantime, the President reminded China of The Hague’s ruling that favored the Philippines in the West Philippine Sea dispute.
“May I remind China again that beyond the territorial waters are the entitlements of the sea. Yung napanalo natin (Those that we have won) but it is not part of our territory, it is a part of our Exclusive Economic Zone, ano yung mga isda, ano yung makita mo diyan, pati yung sa baba, yung oil pati gas, kung meron (the fish including the oil and gas, if any),” he said.
“But the territory (territorial sea) is limited to the 12-mile limit. So that is ours. Hanggang diyan lang tayo (That is our limit),” Duterte said. (