Lacson on China war ‘threat’: Friends don’t threaten each other

Senator Panfilo Lacson on Monday cautioned the government in pursuing friendship with China, after President Rodrigo Duterte disclosed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s threat to go to war if Manila will try to drill for oil in the disputed West Philippine Sea.

“If we want to be friendly with China, it can still be pursued. But friendship should be based on goodwill. Hindi pwede yung magkakaibigan nagte-threaten,” Lacson told reporters in an interview.

“Where can you find goodwill kung may threat of going to war in case na ‘yung claims i-pursue natin to explore based on what we believe is ours?” he said.

Whether veiled or not, Lacson said Xi’s threat should be considered as a serious issue, as he agreed with the opinion of Senior Justice Antonio Carpio that the matter should be brought before the United Nations (UN).

“To threaten us with war specially yung disparity ng military might with China compared to ours, eh medyo malaking threat yun,” Lacson said.

Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also echoed the sentiment of Carpio, as he called on the government to take issue to the UN.

Drilon said Xi’s threat violates the UN’s charter, which states that “all members shall refrain in their institutional relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations.”

“We should stand up to China. We should not allow our country to be bullied and threatened,” Drilon said.

On Friday, Duterte disclosed that Xi made the threat during a recent meeting in Beijing.

But earlier in the day, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano clarified “that there was no bullying or pushing around” and that “the context was about conflict resolution.”

Lacson argued, however, that there was no conflict resolution in the first place, as the matter of disputed territories has been settled by the Permanent Court of Arbitration last year.

“There’s no conflict resolution because the conflict has already been resolved in our favor,” he said.

Pushed to a corner

Senator Richard Gordon, for his part, said Duterte pushed both China and the Philippines in a corner when he made such remark.

“If I were in his shoes, I would not have said it but then Digong is Digong. He should never announce what is happening when you’re negotiating because you put people in a corner,” Gordon said.

Gordon said Duterte should not show “weakness” when speaking about matters of territory.

“I don’t care kung mainis sila (China). I just care that we should also be careful when we deal with them. We should not show weakness,” the senator said.

He said he will ask Cayetano to explain before the Senate the context of Duterte’s discussion with Xi.

Beijing insists it has historic claims over nearly the entire South China Sea, including areas that are within Manila’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) called the West Philippine Sea. — RSJ, GMA News