Duterte: Intel report shows China may be building structures in Panatag

President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday said he has received intelligence reports showing China may be building structures in the disputed Panatag Shoal (Scarborough Shoal).

In a speech delivered at the inauguration of the Davao International Container Terminal in Davao del Norte, Duterte said the Philippine Coast Guard saw barges coming in the area also referred to as Bajo de Masinloc.

"It is unsettling coming here, [nakasakay] ako sa chopper, nabasa ko iyong report na iyong [Philippine] Coast Guard made some little trips near them and there are a lot of barges. What is the purpose of a barge? You put something there and bring it somewhere usually. I think they are starting sa [Bajo de] Masinloc and this would be another ruckus there."

Duterte said that if China continues to beef up its military in the South China Sea, maritime trade on the passage will be threatened by increase in insurance because risks will also go up.

"Because if they continue building military installations there, everything will go up. Then trade in this part... would go up. And insurance would go up, for the ship and the goods that they transport, because then it would be a source of conflict and thereby the threat is always there," Duterte said.

While he repeated that he does not intend to bring up The Hague arbitration ruling during the ASEAN Summit, Duterte will push for it during his planned bilateral talk with China. 

"But you can be very sure, pag kami na lang, eyeball to eyeball, sabihin ko talaga: 'Let us not talk of anything else. Let us talk about this arbitration.' But not now. Timing lang ho ‘yan," Duterte said, emphasizing that he will not go out of the four corners of the document and will take out war of his options.

"And so they say that they would not honor it but we cannot be, you know, we can only take so much. We can only take so much. But you cannot be slapped everyday with that kind of words," Duterte also said of China's refusal to honor the ruling.

Expansion activities 

At a press conference after his speech, Duterte said he will ask China to confirm if there are really expansion activities in the West Philippine Sea.

"I'd like him to--the ambassador--to just answer me one question if there are any ongoing construction or expansion in the South China Sea; and whether or not, we can still have the fishing rights which is really the entitlement of our country having won the arbitration proceedings," he said as he confirmed that he will have private talks with China on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit.

"What I just want to know if there is additional construction going on especially in the area of [Bajo de] Masinloc. Because if it gets bigger and bigger and bigger, as much as I'd like to avoid trouble now, the other countries might just decide to invoke the maritime safety and begin to question using us--because we have the arbitral judgment in our hands kasi magsalita ka na kasi ikaw ang may hawak ng award eh. So I do not dread the day but I want to be comfortable until such time I talk to them bilateral, face to face, eyeball to eyeball," Duterte added.

The President then repeated the same thought when he pointed out that China kept on saying that it will not honor the The Hague ruling when the Philippines, which won the case, seldom invoke the arbitration award.

"I hope China would realize that we went out of our way, we walked the extra mile to be conscious about this thing that we are not supposed to ignite. Ang problema is every time they will reply, they would say that they are not willing to obey the arbitral--they could have stated otherwise," the President said. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News