Makabayan lawmakers on Wednesday, March 24, filed a resolution calling for a House probe into the presence of Chinese vessels near a reef in the West Philippine Sea.

“Now therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives, through the Committee on National Defense and Security, to condemn and conduct an investigation, in aid of legislation, the presence of more than 200 vessels in the vicinity of the Julian Felipe Reef,” the resolution said.

Julian Felipe Reef (Whitsun Reef) , a boomerang-shaped shallow coral reef, is located northeast of Pagkakaisa Banks and Reefs (Union Reefs), about 175 nautical miles west of Bataraza, Palawan. It is within the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines, where Filipinos enjoy sovereign rights over resources.

‘Passive’ Duterte

In filing the resolution, the lawmakers noted that even after the Philippines’ historic victory over China in The Hague, where an international arbitral tribunal rejected China’s expansive claims in the South China Sea in July 2016, the Duterte administration continued to take “a passive stance over the matter.”

“The failure of the Duterte administration to protect the country’s territorial integrity resulted to the loss of livelihood of many Filipino fisherfolk. With the continuing harassment  by the China Coast Guard and the Chinese deployment of maritime militias, Filipinos were deprived of the natural resources in its own territory,” the resolution said.

This is the first formal call in Congress for a probe into the issue after the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) disclosed that it received verified reports from the Philippine Coast Guard that about 220 Chinese fishing vessels were sighted near the Julian Felipe Reef on March 7.

They are suspected to be Chinese maritime militia, which China denied. Senator Risa Hontiveros had said that China is “gaslighting” the Philippines by “lying” about its military presence near the reef.

‘Heightened Chinese aggression’

Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice had warned that China used the same strategy in illegally occupying Mischief Reef in 1995 – initially insisting that it was only building a fishermen’s shelter in the reef, which now has a runway and a missile system, among other structures that neighbors are protesting. 

The progressive lawmakers echoed this concern in the resolution, saying: “Considering the current situation where China is claiming virtually the whole South China Sea, the position and deployment of the Chinese vessels may lead to another level of disrespect to Philippine sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea, as well as heightened Chinese aggression.”

“It is feared that China will intensify the harassment and human rights violations against the Filipino people and further deprive them of their rights over the natural resources in the Philippine territory,” the resolution added.

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) filed a diplomatic protest over the incident on Monday, March 22, while the Armed Forces of the Philippines said on Tuesday, March 23, that it was still assessing the situation. – Rappler.com