“Patuloy na isinasagawa po ng pamahalaan ang mga karapat-dapat na aksyon para igiit ‘yung ating karapatan at itaguyod ‘yung pambansang interes natin. Hindi po tayo nagdedepende sa aksyon ng ibang bansa sa pagsulong ng ating pambansang interes,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in an interview aired over state-run dzRB.
Coloma was reacting to a Saturday report by the South China Morning Post that China plans to put up a military base in the disputed Kalayaan Island Group.
According to the SCMP report, a military base will be built after the planned expansion of an artificial island located on Fiery Cross Reef, which the Philippines calls Kagitingan Reef.
The report also said that the military base will feature an airstrip and a port. The base will also have storage for military supplies. An observation post on the reef already exists, the report added.
If the construction of a military base pushes through, China will have a strategic outpost in the heart of disputed territories in the South China Sea including the Spratlys and the KIG
But Coloma reiterated that the Aquino believes in the peaceful resolution of the maritime row.
“Sinusunod po natin kung ano ang naaayon sa pambansang interes ng Pilipinas at matibay po ‘yung ating pananalig na kinakailangang lutasin sa pamamagitan ng mapayapang paraan ang mga usapin hinggil sa maritime entitlement sa West Philippine Sea o South China Sea. At patuloy pa rin po ‘yung pagtataguyod natin ng paghahanap ng mapayapang paglutas sa mga usaping ‘yan,” Coloma said.
Earlier the Palace said it was investigating whether China really was reclaiming land on disputed reefs, but stressed that the Philippines would not be provoked into a “rash response.”
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the government was looking into reports that the Chinese were damaging the reefs in an alleged effort to turn two remote outcrops in the sea into islands.
Like Coloma, Valte also said that Manila will continue to pursue a diplomatic solution to the dispute. — Patricia Denise Chiu/BM, GMA News
