By Jelly F. Musico
MANILA, May 27 (PNA) – Malacanang on Wednesday said the Philippines always stands by its own with regard to the country’s position in the West Philippine Sea.
”We have always stood by our own,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a press briefing in Malacanang.
However, Valte clarified that the country would welcome support of other countries to the Philippines’ position in the disputed territories.
”It is, of course, welcome on our part that other responsible members of the international community have voiced their strong support for our position,” Valte said.
Valte reacted to the statement of Brad Glosserman, the executive director of the Pacific Forum for Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), who said the Philippines should not rely in the United States for help against China.
The official of the think-tank that released aerial photos of Mischief Reef in disputed Spratlys was quoted as saying: “If you’re relying on America for help, you have a problem.”
”Well, obviously, that is the person’s opinion. However, as you can see in crafting our position when it comes to the dispute in the West Philippine Sea, the country, the administration does take into consideration several factors before we had arrived at a decision to file the memorial before the Arbitral Tribunal,” Valte said.
”So it’s not really that we depend solely on one person or one country, but it’s a consideration of what we have, what is available to us, especially with regard to legal remedies,” she added.
Valte said the support of the US and other countries in the Philippines’ decision to elevate its position to the United Nations is vital.
”Not just the US in particular, but we’ve discussed this many times before that other responsible members of the international community have affirmed the Philippines’ position in terms of our approach to resolving the dispute and to us that’s very important—that you gain global support in terms of our initiatives and how we have chosen to resolve the disputes,” the Palace official said.
In March last year, the Philippines filed a memorial to defense its case against China’s sweeping territorial claims in West Philippine Sea at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has recently shown in a Senate hearing aerial photos showing massive and rapid reclamation by China in the disputed territory. (PNA)