By Junex Doronio
MANILA — Stressing that the country’s sovereignty cannot be compromised, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez on Friday called on the administration of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to exclude China from the financing of planned railways and other infrastructure projects.
Instead, the president of the pro-administration Centrist Democratic Party (CDO) proposed that the financing could be secured from friendly nations like Japan and South Korea.
“I think Beijing is linking project funding to raging territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea. If they believe they could extract concessions from us, they are dead wrong. We cannot compromise our territorial integrity and sovereignty and maritime interests in waters that are ours under international law,” Rodriguez said.
The CDO congressman made the statement on the heels of the latest China’s “shadowing” of the Philippines-US joint maritime and air patrol in the West Philippine Sea held from November 21 to 23.
The Mindanaoan lawmaker also lauded the decision of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to back out of loan negotiations with a Chinese bank for three railway lines in Luzon and Mindanao.
“We can even consider internal financing like private investments and the annual national budget for these critical rail lines, including the first railway project in Mindanao,” Rodriguez pointed out.
(ai/mnm)
