Trillanes calls for Senate inquiry into China missiles in Spratlys

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday, May 7, filed a resolution urging the Senate panel on national defense and security to look into China’s installation of missiles in the Spratlys islands, where the Philippines is among the six claimants. (Photo: Senate of the Philippines/Facebook)

Senator Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday, May 7, filed a resolution urging the Senate panel on national defense and security to look into China’s installation of missiles in the Spratlys islands, where the Philippines is among the six claimants.

Trillanes, in his Senate Resolution 722, said the Philippines must assert its sovereignty and territorial integrity and ensure that China’s militarization of the features does not pose any threat to the country’s defense and security.

He stated that the installation of weapons, facilities, and structures show that there is a “clear policy” of militarization by Beijing in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“While the Philippines has previously forged economic ties with China, the security and defense relationship is a separate matter. Thus, this alleged militarization of the West Philippine Sea is very alarming and it poses a big threat to the country’s national defense and security,” Trillanes’s resolution read.

The anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles systems were reportedly deployed on Fiery Cross Reef (Kagitingan), Subi Reef (Zamora), and Mischief Reef (Panganiban), according to a report of Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), a United States (US)-based television network.

CNBC did not disclose their sources to grant their request for anonymity but said that these sources had “direct knowledge of US intelligence reports.”

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying, however, defended China, saying that its “peaceful” construction in the Spratly archipelago, including the development of necessary national defense facilities, “is aimed at protecting China’s sovereignty and security.”

“Those who don’t intend to violate have no reason to worry,” she said.

Aside from the need to assert the Philippine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, Trillanes also said that the country should “reassert” its victory in the arbitration case on the disputed territories through rallying support and strengthening the alliance with regional partners such as the US, Japan, Australia, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The opposition lawmaker further said the country’s defense and security must be preserved by fast-tracking the implementation of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), and strengthening the implementation of existing laws such as the Archipelagic Baseline Law of the Philippines, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), among others.

On Sunday, Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III also said the upper house should have an inquiry into the matter.

He stressed that the Senate foreign relations committee should first find out what really is happening and then have a closed-door confidential briefing to determine how the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) intends to handle China’s latest movement.

Malacañang, for its part, earlier said it is still verifying the reports on missile installations in the Spratlys islands.

“We are still verifying. Everything that we’ve read on the papers is based on a US media report, which we really should not completely rely on,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. told reporters on Saturday in Davao City.

“So we are first verifying if it is true and we have not had any verification,” he added.