PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr.’s meeting in Washington with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to provide stability and peace in the Into-Pacific region amid repeated incursions of China in the West Philippine Sea.
“We hope that with this Trilateral Summit, the heightened tensions in the WPS will be reduced, if not totally stopped. These were brought about by the unprovoked actions of Beijing where their vessels have been hitting ours with water canons,” House Assistant Majority Leader and La Union 1st District Rep. Paolo P. Ortega V, a member of Young Guns or a group of dynamic leaders in the House of Representatives, said.
“This is a step in the right direction. We need all the support we can get from our usual allies in the international community. We also need them to guide us how to deal with such a recurring problem, since China has been doing this despite our complaints,” Ortega, whose province faces the West Philippine Sea, noted.
Ortega said he is hoping that President Marcos’ meeting with the American and Japanese heads of state will help persuade China to back out from encroaching on Philippine territory, which is very well within its 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
“We cannot afford to just let their (Chinese) vessels block our ships and prevent our fishermen from getting their daily livelihood in our very own shores. That is simply not fair, to say the least,” Ortega remarked.
Ortega also underscored the importance of such a summit, which is an “avenue where allies like US and Japan can discuss ways on how to mitigate incidents” in the waters off Palawan and Zambales, which is getting in the way of fishermen, and the resupply mission team.
He also commended Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez for “helping lighten the load of the President who obviously has his hands full,” owing to the multiple problems he has to face in trying to give Filipinos a better life.
