MANILA, Philippines – Several House leaders issued sharply worded statements condemning the incident in Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippines Sea, where the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons towards Philippine vessels in an effort to block their resupply mission.

House national defense chairperson Raul “Boboy” Tupas of Iloilo’s 5th District called it a “brazen attack.”

“Restraint in dealing with maritime disputes must be observed by the Chinese Coast Guard rather than resorting to means that are unnecessary, uncalled for, and may result in escalating tensions,” he said in a press release on Tuesday, August 8.

House constitutional amendments committee chairman Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro’s 2nd District called for “more drastic actions” to counter China’s “harassment and bullying tactic.”

“I ask the President to downgrade our embassy in Beijing to show our deep indignation, anger and protest over the water cannon blast by the Chinese Coast Guard on our personnel,” he said on Monday, August 7.

“The President should also order our unusually quiet and inactive ambassador there to return to Manila and to replace him with a lower-level diplomatic officer,” Rodriguez added, referring to Philippine Ambassador to China Jaime FlorCruz.

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Members of the militant Makabayan bloc also condemned China’s “dangerous actions” which they say violate international law.

“President Marcos Jr. must openly condemn China’s aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea which continues to threaten the livelihood and security of our fisherfolk and coastal communities,” House assistant minority leader Arlene Brosas of Gabriela said on Monday.

“The Philippines should bring up China’s blatant violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the arbitral award before the United Nations General Assembly, to pressure China and stop them,” House deputy minority leader France Castro of ACT Teachers asserted on Sunday, August 6.

House Speaker Martin Romualdez’s office said in a press release on Monday that what China did was “illegal,” but stopped short of explicitly condemning the incident.

But he lauded his cousin President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for consulting Philippine military officials “on how best the government can address the latest incident in the West Philippine Sea.”

The Philippine government on Monday summoned Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian and issued a note verbale asking China to stop its illegal action against Philippine vessels.

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“We support his position that we should continue to assert our sovereignty there and that we should defend every inch of our territory,” Romualdez said. – Rappler.com

[ANALYSIS] Leveraging transparency against the West Philippine Sea bully