CCPI backs Marcos admin on sovereignty stance

The Chamber of Commerce of the Philippine Islands (CCPI) on Wednesday expressed its support to the government’s stance regarding sovereignty, following recent encounters with foreign vessels within the country’s territory.

In a statement, the country’s oldest business economic institution said it backs the Marcos administration on its stand to defend the Philippines’ “territorial integrity and sovereignty,” and its “focus on economic development.”

“The policy statements of President Marcos are in accordance with the Chamber’s Economic Pillars 5,” the statement, signed by its CCPI president Jose Luis Yulo Jr., read.

Marcos last month reiterated the country’s position regarding the South China Sea, as he said there continues to be “unilateral and illegal actions” that violate the Philippines’ sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction.

Over the weekend, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it monitored eight Chinese vessels that shadowed and engaged local vessels at Bajo de Masinloc (also referred to as Scarborough Shoal) during a nine-day patrol in the area earlier this month.

In January, Filipino fishermen reported being harassed by Chinese Coast Guard in the area, saying they were chased and their boat was held onto to prevent their exit.

Prior to this, the Philippine Navy said it spotted some 15 to 25 Chinese warships around the Mischief Reef or Panganiban Reef, just some 25 miles away from the Ayungin Shoal where the government was set to deploy a resupply mission for troops at a military outpost in the area.

This comes as China has refused to acknowledge the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s ruling in 2016 that  invalidated its nine-dash line. Its government also earlier claimed that it will continue to adhere to what it described as a “friendly consultation” with the Philippines after several Chinese vessels have been found “swarming” areas in the West Philippine Sea.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), for its part, has maintained that China should respect the Philippines’ sovereignty and the right to conduct activities in the West Philippine Sea. — Jon Viktor D. Cabuenas/RSJ, GMA Integrated News