Mayorya ng mga Pilipino, gustong paigtingin ang pag-giit sa karapatan ng bansa sa West Philippine Sea base sa OCTA research survey
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Defense Secretary Gilberto Chodoro Jr. has insisted that the Philippines should not be blamed for the country's incursion into the West Philippine Sea.
00:10 This is Patrick De Jesus' report.
00:12 Many Filipinos have been incursed by the military's actions, patrolling, and the presence of soldiers.
00:28 According to the 2023 4th Quarter Survey of OCTA Research, which has 1,200 respondents, 72% believe that this is the right move of the government.
00:41 National Security Advisor Eduardo Año said that they are happy with the survey results.
00:47 The government also emphasizes that the modernization of the AFP and Coast Guard is a priority for the state-of-the-art assets.
00:56 Año also added that maritime and air patrols have been strengthened and cooperation exercises have been conducted in the United States and many other countries.
01:09 Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Gilberto Chodoro Jr. also insisted that the Philippines should not be blamed for the country's incursion into the West Philippine Sea.
01:19 "We are not the ones encroaching on the exclusive economic zone of another country.
01:27 The encroacher has a vast area of sea.
01:33 And if they ask us to meet them halfway when they have already eaten three-fourths of the way into our exclusive economic zone, where is the fairness in that?
01:44 Who's fooling who?
01:47 And if there are spillover effects, we are not to blame.
01:53 We do not want a fight, we want peace."
01:58 Just this month, in a bilateral consultation meeting in Shanghai, the Philippines and China agreed to have the Gulf of Guzot planted in a peaceful manner.
02:08 But sometimes, fishermen in Baudemarsinlok experienced a new kind of tension,
02:14 where China Coast Guard returned the fish and seashells they caught, which they hoped to feed.
02:21 "It cannot be based on formless dialogue where one party does not cease to expand its area of influence to the detriment of a smaller country."
02:35 In addition, Teodoro said, "Any country should respect our rights in our territory."
02:42 "The bottom line is the Philippine law which is consistent with UNCLOS, be respected by China.
02:52 That is the bottom line.
02:54 We cannot meet halfway with China in that because it is forcing us, without our choice, to be its sole partner in developing those resources which rightly belong to Filipino citizens.
03:09 This is not China's property at all. The resources belong to us."
03:15 In the modernization of the armed forces, according to Teodoro, the purchase of new equipment will be a key factor in the development of domain awareness and intelligence
03:26 to strengthen our area denial and deterrence capability in the sea and in the sea.
03:34 Patrick de Azuz for the nation.