MEMBERS of the House of Representatives on Tuesday lamented the latest attack of the Chinese Coast Guard against two Philippine vessels this morning, with one lawmaker describing the country’s situation as utterly pitiful.
Both 1-Rider Partylist Rep. Rodge Gutierrez and Lanao del Sur Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong said that, in light of the recent attack of China against the Philippines in Scarborough Shoal, everyone should be supporting President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in his stance against Chinese aggression.
“Ito po ba ‘yung tapang na sinasabi? Kawawa po tayo, nakakagalit. I apologize to our colleagues here for this indulgence, pero this is why we should double down on what the President is doing, kasi po kung tapang po ito, I cannot agree, kinakawawa po tayo,” Gutierrez told reporters in a press conference.
“To find out na today nangyari na naman ito, just when we are talking about measures that we are to take, it highlights the importance of what we are doing here or what the President is doing,” he added.
He then went on to condemn the incident that occurred on Tuesday morning, where the Chinese Coast Guard bombarded with water cannons the Philippine Coast Guard’s (PCG) BRP Bagacay and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources’ (BFAR) vessel BRP Datu Bankaw.
“This is our narrative, are we going to give in to intimidation? I think those are the questions that we have to remember when considering the issue sa West Philippine Sea. I think we can speak on behalf of everyone, we condemn this incident just today, we condemn the narrative of China,” Gutierrez said. “We will not stand for this. And you can be rest assured po dito sa Kongreso that we will be taking seriously.”
Adiong said that with the latest incident, everyone should now support President Marcos’ position.
“We should support the President. Because bullying tactics, a strategy like that, should be countered with a strong opposition and the President has taken that. Kasi pinaglalaban ng Presidente is not to encroach on anybody’s territory, the President does not want to encroach the territory of any other country,” Adiong said.
“But we are merely protecting ours na hindi naman natin kini-claim randomly or without any basis at all but this is supported by the decision of the UNCLOS. So, I guess, ‘yung mga ganyang strategy, they want to portray to the whole world that they’re a superpower and that’s why they can step on us anytime they want,” he added.
“And that’s a basic definition of a bully. Ang dapat na sagot sa isang pagsisindak ay hindi dapat defeatist ang attitude. Dapat tumindig, and the President is standing on a very legitimate position, and we need to support him on that.”
