SP Sotto: Senate will adopt reso vs Chinese attacks

Senate President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday the Senate will adopt later in the day the proposed resolution which condemned statements of the Chinese Embassy against government officials.

“Ngayong araw na ito ipapasa namin ‘yun. ‘Yung sinasabi, pinagsasabi nung opisyal ng Chinese Embassy, tapos umaangal sila sa sinasabi ng ating mga opisyal. Part of — sabi ko nga, part of the freedom of expression natin ‘yun,” Sotto told Super Radyo dzBB.

(Today we will submit that. What is being said, what the official of the Chinese Embassy has been saying, and then they complain about what our officials are saying. As I said, that is part of our freedom of expression.)

To recall, 15 senators signed the draft resolution denouncing the recent public statements issued by the Chinese Embassy against Filipino officials, which they described as “contrary to accepted standards of diplomatic conduct and mutual respect between states.”

They also affirmed that the Philippines has the sovereign right and responsibility to present, assert, and defend its officials positions and national interests, in accordance with international law. 

This came after heated exchange between the Chinese Embassy and Philippine government officials over Beijing’s actions in the West Philippine Sea.

Meanwhile, Sotto said he does not believe that the resolution would affect the country’s diplomatic relations with China.

“Ibig ba sabihin dahil hindi nila gusto ‘yung sinasabi ng mga opisyal natin, we will just cower. Tayo ba ay basta na lang tatanggap tayo na mag papa-bully tayo? Hindi naman pwede. Kailangan pumalag tayo,” he said.

(Does that mean that because they don’t like what our officials are saying, we will just cower? Will we just accept being bullied? That’s not possible. We need to push back.)

Sotto also previously floated the possibility of declaring Chinese Embassy deputy spokesperson Guo Wei persona non grata, but this has been rejected by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News