SPEAKER Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez on Monday supported the decision of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Romualdez Marcos Jr. to consult military leaders on the illegal use of water cannons on Philippine Coast Guard and civilian vessels resupplying a platoon of Filipino soldiers stationed in Ayungin Shoal off Palawan.
“The President made the right decision to get the consensus of officials of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on how best the government can address the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea,” Speaker Romualdez, head of the 312-member House of Representatives, said in commending the President’s course of action.
The Speaker said he also supports the diplomatic actions the government is taking in relation to the harassment of Coast Guard and civilian ships on a resupply mission last Saturday.
On Monday, the President said he has called for a command conference to come up with a comprehensive response to China’s dangerous maneuvers in Ayungin.
“Actually today, pagkatapos ng change of command ng CGPA (Commanding General of the Philippine Army) ay magkakaroon kami ng command conference tungkol nga dito, on how we will respond,” President Marcos said on the sidelines of the distribution of government aid to flood victims in Malolos City, Bulacan.
He was responding to questions about how the government would respond to the latest incident.
Speaker Romualdez commended the President for his firm stand on the issue of Philippine sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
“We support his position that we should continue to assert our sovereignty there and that we should defend every inch of our territory,” he said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has sent a diplomatic note to Beijing protesting the Ayunin water cannon blast incident.
