China urged to respect PBBM declaration on West Philippine Sea

CAGAYAN  de Oro City 2nd District Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Tuesday urged China to accept the declaration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on the West Philippine Sea (WPS) in his SONA yesterday.

“China should accept and respect the President’s unequivocal statement: that the West Philippine Sea is ours and will remain ours,” he said.

Rodriguez also lauded PBBM’s statement that the Philippines cannot yield and cannot waver on the WPS. 

Rodriguez has been a frequent and consistent critic of Beijing’s intrusion and aggressive activities in waters and islands inside the Philippines’ 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ), including the WPS.

“We are entitled to our EEZ under international law. The President is asserting our rights over areas that are legally ours. We are claiming what the law entitles us, no more no less. China can claim what rightfully belongs to it, and we will respect that,” he said.

However, he said the problem is Beijing “is overextending its territorial claim to include waters, islands and resources that are very, very far from its own EEZ.”

“Ayungin Shoal off Palawan in the south is thousands of kilometers from China. Scarborough Shoal, or Bajo de Masinloc to Filipino fishermen, is near Zambales and Pangasinan in the north, and it is hundreds of kilometers from China,” he said.

“How can Beijing legally justify its claim over these shoals and waters that are inside the EEZ of our country? It’s time for Beijing to listen to the President and respect what he says in the interest of peace, stability and harmony,” he stressed.

He added that no country in the world can accept another nation’s extension of its territory.