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Palace: China does not see PHL as threat


Malacañang on Monday allayed concerns that any retaliation by China in case of a fallout due to its assertiveness in the South China Sea will affect the Philippines despite the friendly ties between the two countries.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the statement after Bayan Muna Representative Carlos Zarate took exception to his comment last week that the anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles China had installed on Manila-claimed reefs are not directed at the Philippines.

Zarate called on the Duterte administration to file a diplomatic protest as the "fallout from the increasing militarization of the West Philippine Sea would surely affect our country whether it be a shooting war or not."

"I was from the very beginning saying that we were concerned. But you can’t ignore the fact that because of very good relations, we can be confident that China as a country does not view us as a threat and there is no reason why assuming they have missiles that they can use, they will use it on us," Roque told reporters.

Roque said the Philippines was "exploring all diplomatic options" to address the matter even as he conceded that the country lacks the capability at the moment to independently verify the missile installations.

"Well, I had a talk with the National Security Adviser (Hermogenes Esperon) and he told me that there’s a technology that we need that we still don’t have to be able to verify it for ourselves," he said.

"I understand that we could get information from third party sources but that would not be first party verification."

Roque said the Philippines is now in the process of acquiring the technology although he was unsure from what country it will be sourced.

"He (Esperon) mentioned something [about the kind of technology]. I should have written it down," Roque said.

Asked about his view on the missile defense system being in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone, Roque repeated the government's expression of concern.

"We are viewing this with much concern because any possible scenario that would encourage military action in our backyard, in our exclusive economic zone and in one of the busiest sea lanes in the world, is troublesome," the Palace official said.

"So like the rest of the world, we value freedom of navigation. But we have more of an interest because this is covered by our EEZ."

On notions that China has reneged on its promise not to militarize its artificial islands, Roque said, "[T]his is not a new construction in the sense that what China promised is new reclamation."

He also welcomed the possible Senate probe into the missile deployment, saying it is within the mandate of the legislative body. —KBK, GMA News

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