Umapela si Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez kay Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na lagdaan na ang panukalang Maritime Zones Bill upang mas mapalakas ang posisyon ng Pilipinas laban sa agresibong aktibidad ng China sa West Philippine Sea.
Giit ni Rodriguez, oras na maging ganap itong batas ay mas maigigiit ng Pilipinas ang ating maritime at sovereign rights sa West Philippine Sea at Exclusive Economic Zone na laging pinanghihimasukan ng China.
Sabi pa ng beteranong mambabatas, salig naman ito sa kinikilalang international laws at agreements gaya ng United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) at ang naipanalong 2016 arbitral ruling ng Pilipinas laban sa China.
Sa pamamagitan ng Philippine Maritime Zones Act, itatakda at tutukuyin ang archipelagic boundaries, internal waters, at Exclusive Economic Zones ng Pilipinas.
“I am almost sure that we will soon have this law. This early, I am appealing to China to recognize it and to immediately stop encroaching and intruding in our EEZ and the West Philippine Sea. Let us not worry about what the Chinese will say. Let us think of our own national interest,” sabi ni Rodriguez. | ulat ni Kathleen Jean Forbes
