PHL informed of China civilian air landing at Mischief Reef –Defense chief

A Chinese civilian aircraft landed on Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands on Thursday last week, two days after an international arbitral court ruled in favor of the Philippines in its territorial dispute case against China.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said unlike in the past, China, through its defense attache to the Philippines, had informed the Philippine government of the landing before it took place.

"They landed civilian aircraft there but before doing that, the informed us they were going to do it," Lorenzana told reporters in Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday.

He said the notice was given on July 11, a day before the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea had violated the Philippines' exclusive rights to exploit and develop resources under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea.

"Their defense attache told us that they were going to test the quality of their airstrip to receive civilian aircraft," Lorenzana said.

Mischief Reef, locally known as Panganiban Reef, is one of the seven reefs that China has reclaimed over the last three years.

Lorenzana said that Philippines is not in the position to prevent further constructions by China in their man-made islands despite the arbitral court's ruling.

"We cannot do anything. We’ll just watch them do that because we don’t have any capability to prevent them from doing that," he said.

The Defense chief, meanwhile, said the Philippines and its allies are not aware of the reported flight of a Chinese nuclear-capable bomber above the contested Scarborough Shoal last week.

"We cannot confirm it, not even our allies can confirm that," Lorenzana said. "I think that news was reported by a daily from China so we do not know if that’s true or not or if it’s just a propaganda by them." —KBK, GMA News