The government must act urgently on the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) report of close distance maneuvering by a Chinese Coast Guard vessel in the West Philippine Sea.
Its presence poses risks to the safety of navigation and impedes on the Filipinos’ rights to benefit from marine wealth in our exclusive economic zone.
We laud the PCG for actively patrolling our waters and for immediately alerting concerned bodies about the incident.
Its call to action should not be drowned by the frenzy of the political campaign as China’s intransigence on the West Philippine Sea issue remains real.
We must not let this pass without raising protest even as we continue to bolster diplomatic initiatives with other foreign nations in asserting sovereignty over our waters.
