Itinutulak ni Lanao del Norte Representative Khalid Dimaporo na siguruhing may documentation ang ginagawang panggigipit ng China sa Pilipinas sa West Philippine Sea.
Ayon sa mambabatas, ang mga litrato at video ng aggression ng China ay makatutulong para makakuha ng simpatiya mula sa international community.
Ayon naman kay Defense Undersecretary Ignacio Madriaga, ito ang hakbang na ginagawa ng Pilipinas ngayon.
Aniya, ang mga documentation na ito ang nagsisilbing patunay sa mga international law na nilalabag ng China, gaya na lamang ng collision regulation, matapos nitong banggain ang resupply vessel ng Pilipinas.
“So what we are doing right now and I totally agree with Rep. Dimaporo to highlight these by documenting this. And we have been doing that from the time of Sec. Año as head of the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea. Because by highlighting that, internationalizing, videotaping, documenting everything, we would increase the reputational risk to China and that was not done before.” paliwanag ni Madriaga
Malaking bagay din ani Madriaga na maipaalam ito sa international community, dahil may epekto ito sa imahe at reputasyon ng China.
Maliban dito, mas maraming bansa na aniya ngayon ang kumikilala at iginigiit ang arbitral ruling na naipanalo ng Pilipinas laban sa China.
“Internationalizing it is basically adding reputational cost to China and they don’t want that. I think the best manifestation of our diplomatic effort and our documentation and showing it to the world is now, a lot of countries are expressing their support to the arbitral ruling. Whereas before even after it was passed in 2016 no other country is basically citing the arbitral award as basis of our claim,” dagdag pa ng opisyal.
Sabi pa ni Madriaga, na hindi man kayang masabayan o makipagkumpitenya sa ngayon ng Pilipinas ang China sa mga aktibidad nito ay malakas naman ang laban ng Pilipinas sa legal, diplomatic at political arena. | ulat ni Kathleen Forbes
