Senators urge protest vs. China over Panatag incident with Reporter's Notebook team

At least three senators said Friday the government should file a diplomatic protest after a China Coast Guard attempted to prevent the crew of Philippine television show Reporter’s Notebook from making a documentary at the Panatag Shoal.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said the Philippine government should file a diplomatic protest.

“The government should not simply be as meek as a lamb in the face of these assaults on our sovereignty,” he said in a text message to GMA News Online.

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV said the act of Chinese authorities “are clearly acts of aggression.”

“Yes, the DFA  must file a diplomatic protest about the matter,” he said.

Senator Joel Villanueva a diplomatic protest should be filed.

“In fact, this is a good opportunity for us to emphasize our claims to the West Philippine Sea,” he said in a separate text message.

Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito, for his part, said he is against the bullying of China ever since. “I am not smiling with this latest development.”  

On the other hand, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said the government should look for diplomatic ways to discuss and settle the issues and uphold the rights of the citizens in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Administration ally Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, meanwhile, said the incident should be reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

"The DFA should know what to do," Pimentel, president of the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), said in a text message to GMA News Online.

GMA News' Jun Veneracion narrated how his team was prohibited by Chinese men to take videos and conduct interviews in the area.

Veneracion said the Chinese told him that without permission from China, his team cannot do the documentary in Panatag Shoal, even saying that they were in the "sea area of the People’s Republic of China.”

Prof. Jay Batongbacal earlier said the government should protest the action of the Chinese coast guard.

"Parang gusto pa nila lahat ng permits for doing anything mismong pagkuha ng picture, kailangan sa China hihingin," Prof. Jay Batongbacal said in an interview on Reporter's Notebook aired Thursday night, Nov. 22, 2018.

"So again, further evidence 'yan na talagang tightened 'yung kontrol nila." —NB/RSJ, GMA News