“We will follow the process whether they agree to or not, we’ll just follow the process,” said Secretary to the Cabinet Rene Almendras on Wednesday, a day after Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Ma Keqing delivered a Note Verbale to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) stating that China is rejecting and returning the Philippines’ Notification and Statement of Claim.
Almendras said they still believe that “down the line, there will be some decisions and actions that these international bodies will hopefully come up with and, hopefully, they will be to our favor.”
He said he was not surprised with China's decision. “Personally, I’m not surprised; I expected it. Even when we were discussing this, they already said so that they will not [cooperate] from the very beginning.”
Nevertheless, Almendras said the government will exert all efforts to try and get recognition from the international community. “The important thing is that somebody, other than us, will say that this is so.”
Both China and the Philippines — as well Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam — are locked in a dispute over ownership of the Spratly Islands, a chain of islands and islets believed to be rich in oil and minerals deposits, in the West Philippine Sea. Japan, on the other hand, claims the Senkaku Islands, which China also asserts ownership over.
The Philippines recently notified China that it is bringing their territorial dispute over parts of the resource-rich South China Sea to international arbitration.-GMA News (February 20, 2013 3:22PM)
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