Hontiveros seeks probe into PH-China 'understanding' on resupply missions 

Senator Risa Hontiveros has filed a resolution seeking an inquiry into the supposed Manila-Beijing deal over resupply missions in the West Philippine Sea.

This comes a few weeks after a confrontation between Chinese and Philippine vessels in Ayungin Shoal left a Filipino serviceman injured. Chinese Envoy to the Philippines Jing Quan had attributed the Chinese Coast Guard’s assault to Filipinos breaking a supposed deal.

“Ang tanong lang naman: gumagana ba itong kasunduan? Kasi kung para ito maiwasan ang gulo at maprotektahan ang ating mga sundalo, bakit patuloy silang sinasaktan habang ginagawa lang nila ang trabaho nila?” Hontiveros said in a statement issued Tuesday.

(The question is: is this agreement working? Because if it is to prevent conflict and to protect soldiers, why do they continue to get hurt while they do their job?)

“The Senate needs to see exactly what was agreed upon, and whether the Philippines is actually benefiting from it,” she added.

Following this statement, Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro said that he was not aware of any sort of agreement between China and the Philippines over Ayungin Shoal (also called Second Thomas Shoal).

However, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) confirmed that there was an agreement to prevent misunderstandings but reiterated it did not mean that the Philippines needed permission to go to Ayungin Shoal.

The senator said that the DFA and the Department of National Defense cannot have contradicting statements.

“The full text of the said ‘provisional understanding,’ together with its annexes, side letters, agreed minutes, implementing arrangements, and any subsequent instruments of review or renewal has, to date, never been transmitted to the Senate nor disclosed to the Filipino people,” Hontiveros wrote in Senate Resolution 589.

Hontiveros said that she is not asking either agencies to disclose confidential information, but the people still needed to know about an agreement that affected the country.

“The West Philippine Sea issue is not something we can afford to negotiate in the dark,” Hontiveros said. — RSJ, GMA News