{"id":210346,"date":"2019-04-16T23:17:22","date_gmt":"2019-04-17T03:17:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=210346"},"modified":"2019-04-16T23:17:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-17T03:17:22","slug":"us-aid-on-chinese-vessels-in-wps-requires-serious-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/04\/16\/us-aid-on-chinese-vessels-in-wps-requires-serious-study\/","title":{"rendered":"US aid on Chinese vessels in WPS requires \u2018serious study\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Secretary Salvador Panelo holds a press briefing for the Malaca\u00f1ang Press Corps (MPC) on Monday, November 26, 2018, at the New Executive Building (NEB) in Malaca\u00f1ang. (Photo<\/a>: Office of the Presidential Spokesperson\/Facebook<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said seeking security assistance from the United States amid the continued presence of Chinese vessels in Pag-asa Island in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea) requires serious study.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said it will be up to President Rodrigo R. Duterte to determine whether he finds it necessary to seek help from the Philippines\u2019 long-time ally.<\/p>\n

Under the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between the Philippines and U.S., the allies must provide aid in case of an armed attack against either Washington or Manila by an external party.<\/p>\n

Panelo emphasized that allowing the U.S. to step in might have \u201crepercussions\u201d on the two countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll wait for the President\u2019s decision on that. These are very serious matters, and require serious study,\u201d said Panelo in a Palace briefing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause there may be repercussions on both sides,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

To date, the Philippines has already lodged a \u201csalvo of notes verbale\u201d against China\u2019s continued activity in the disputed waters.<\/p>\n

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., however, admitted that China has not responded to any of them yet.<\/p>\n

Panelo, however, said the Philippines is currently contented with ongoing bilateral negotiations being undertaken by the two countries.<\/p>\n

He also expressed hope that China would respond to the diplomatic protest \u201cin time\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWala namang iba sa ngayon na pupuwede<\/em>\u00a0(There\u2019s nothing else we can do at the moment). In the meanwhile, (let\u2019s stick with) negotiations tayo,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still waiting. I\u2019m sure they will respond in time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Giant clams<\/strong><\/p>\n

Panelo, meanwhile assured that the foreign affairs department will be taking legal action against Chinese nationals harvesting giant clams in the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal in the West Philippine Sea.<\/p>\n

Reports showed that Chinese nationals continue to extract giant clams in what has been recognized as a traditional fishing ground off the coast of Zambales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Secretary of Foreign Affairs already made a tweet on that. He said he will take legal action. He had already filed a note verbale or diplomatic protest,\u201d Panelo said.<\/p>\n

The presidential spokesperson pointed out that since China has been \u201cconsistent\u201d in performing acts of ownership or sovereignty over those areas, the Philippines should do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be consistent with ours. As far as we are concerned, that is ours so we will be objecting to any intrusion into our own territory,\u201d Panelo assured.<\/p>\n

Panelo said it was also the President\u2019s call to bring up the issue during his attendance in the upcoming Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, China on April 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Malaca\u00f1ang on Tuesday said seeking security assistance from the United States amid the continued presence of Chinese vessels in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":191167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-azer-parrocha","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210346"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210347,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210346\/revisions\/210347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}