“If one day China should change her color and turn into a superpower if she too should play the tyrant in the world and everywhere subject others to her bullying, aggression and exploitation, the people of the world should identify her as social-imperialism, expose it, oppose it and work together with Chinese people to overthrow it.”
— Deng Xiaoping in his speech before the United Nations in 1974
I THINK SPEAKER FERDINAND MARTIN ROMUALDEZ is right that the PBBM administration will maintain a proactive stance in protecting the country’s territory and sovereignty by allocating a higher defense budget of P282.7 billion under the proposed P5.768 trillion budget for 2024.
Romualdez issued the statement following the latest bullying by a Chinese vessel firing water cannon at a Philippine resupply vessel on its way to Filipino soldiers patrolling the Ayungin shoal which is very much within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
China arrogantly justified its bullying by claiming that the Philippine ships intruded into the Ayungin Shoal, which it said is part of its territory, and violated China’s laws during the conduct of the resupply mission.
It also claimed that the Philippines promised to remove the vessel.
But China was sharply rebuked by our Commander-in-Chief.
“I’m not aware of any such arrangement or agreement that the Philippines will remove from its own territory its ship, in this case, the BRP Sierra Madre from the Ayungin Shoal,” President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. said in a video message.
“And let me go further, if there does exist such an agreement, I rescind that agreement now,” PBBM stressed.
On Thursday, August 10, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesperson for the West Philippine Sea Commodore Jay Tarriela lashed out at some Filipinos who are defending China’s aggressive behavior in the West Philippine Sea (WPS), describing them as “traitors” and “unpatriotic”.
“If you are a Filipino, whether in government or private sector, regardless of your politics, defending and making excuses for China’s aggressive behavior should deem you unpatriotic, and a traitor to the Philippines and to our people,” Tarriela said in a statement.
He added that freedom of speech should not be misused to justify unpatriotic actions by acting as China’s mouthpiece.
“Together, we should stand united in protecting our nation’s interests and pursuing a peaceful resolution to the issues. Dahil sa West Philippine Sea ang yaman nito ay para sa Pilipino (Because the resources in WPS are for the Filipinos)!” Tarriela stressed.
Yes, united we stand to defend what is rightfully ours.