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Palace: Duterte gov’t not guilty of inaction on China’s incursion in West Philippine Sea


Malacañang on Monday maintained the  government has made efforts to assert the country’s sovereign rights over Manila-claimed features in the South China Sea.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Philippines need not publicize its every response to Beijing's activities in the West Philippine Sea, the area being claimed by Manila in the resource-rich South China Sea.

“[H]indi po guilty ang gobyerno ni Presidente Duterte ng inaction, hindi lang po tayo maingay, pero meron po tayong action kaagad kapag ang tingin natin ay may ginagawa ang Tsina na nalalabag ang ating soberenya at mga karapatan ng soberenya,” Roque said in a radio interview.

“So ang sinasabi ko po, iyong persepsiyon na dapat aktibo na pinaglalaban ang interest ng Pilipinas, tama po iyon. Dahil ang katotohanan, wala pong tigil sa paglalaban sa interest ng Pilipinas ang gobyerno ni Presidente Rodrigo Duterte,” he added.

Roque gave the reaction after four out of five Filipinos said in a new Social Weather Stations survey that it was “not right” for the government “to do nothing about China’s intrusion in claimed territories.”

Eighty percent of those polled also said that it was right for the government to improve the country's defense posture, and that it was especially necessary to improve the Navy’s capabilities.

Seventy-four percent said it would be right for the government to bring the territorial dispute before international organizations, like the United Nations or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, for a diplomatic and peaceful negotiation with China on the  dispute.

Seventy-three percent said it was right to have direct, bilateral negotiations between the Philippines and China on the dispute; while 68 percent said the government needed to ask other countries to mediate the issue.

Eighty-one percent of those polled said they were aware of the maritime row.

The June 27 to 30 poll also asked the 1,200 respondents how much they trusted China, with 18 percent having much trust in China, 27 percent undecided, and 53 percent with little trust.

China’s net trust rating (percent much trust minus percent little trust) was thus a -35, which was characterized as a "bad" rating.

Critics have slammed Duterte's insistence not to antagonize China even after Beijing's reported deployment of military aircraft and installation of anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missile systems on Manila-claimed reefs.

Instead, Duterte blamed the United States and his predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, for not confronting China's excessive claims and buildup of military facilities on the artificial islands.

The United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration delivered in July 2016 a sweeping victory to the Philippines on the case it filed against China during the term of Aquino, declaring as illegal China's claim over nearly the entire South China Sea.

Duterte, however, set aside the ruling in order to forge better ties with China, but vowed to raise it at a proper time during his presidency which ends in 2022. — RSJ, GMA News

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