China not the only one building in South China Sea —Cayetano

China isn't the only country building in the disputed territories in the South China Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said on Friday.

Cayetano said he expected the activity of claimant-countries in the disputed areas to be taken up when they begin talks on the proposed Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

"Sa old areas, we've monitored that a lot are still building sa kanilang hawak. Sa Pag-Asa we're repairing. Malaysia, Vietnam, China are repairing but everyone is saying it's defensive," Cayetano said in Tina Panganiban-Perez's report on "24 Oras".

"So that's where the COC  comes in, and that's where further discussion after the COC," he added.

Cayetano said the country would not hold back if the issue is brought up in multilateral discussions.

"If it's brought up in multi-laterals...  hindi tayo umaatras from discussing it and coming up with solutions," Cayetano said.

"But we are sensitive and careful to bring the discussions to a positive note where people develop mutual trust because kapag may trust, mas madali ang paki-usapan," he added.

Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the UP Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said the Philippines' seeming inaction on China's construction of facilities that may be used for military purposes may be interpreted as yielding to Beijing.

"If we continue to keep quiet, it is like we are accepting China's dominance in the West Philippine Sea, we're accepting that China can do whatever it wants even in our waters," Batongbacal said.

According to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative (AMTI), China continues to build permanent facilities such as underground storage areas, administrative buildings, radar, and sensor arrays on the disputed areas.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled on July 2016 that the Philippines has full rights to the Mischief Reef as it is inside the country's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone but the reef is one of the areas China had used.

In spite of opposition from other countries, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang insisted that it was "normal" for China to "conduct peaceful construction and build essential defense equipment on its own sovereign territory." —NB, GMA News