Seventy-five percent of Filipinos want the Philippines to partner with the United States to resolve territorial disputes with China over the West Philippine Sea (WPS), Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Monday.
He said this was based on the latest Pulse Asia survey in response to Zubiri’s rider question: “Are you in favor or not in favor of strengthening the military ties between the United States and the Philippines amid security tensions in the West Philippine Sea?”
Zubiri noted that only 14 percent were not in favor, as the rest of the respondents marked themselves as not having enough knowledge to form an opinion (2 percent) or “can’t say” (8 percent).
Amid criticisms of the US military’s participation in drills in the WPS, which has translated to trainings and regular flights within Philippine territory, Zubiri noted this survey data proves that most Filipinos welcome receiving support from the US military.
Meanwhile, Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte urged the Department of National Defense to intensify efforts for joint maritime patrols in the WPS with the US and other allies like Japan and Australia.
The lawmaker said this in the wake of reports that Chinese maritime militia vessels masquerading as fishing boats have been swarming the Del Pilar Reef and Escoda Shoal within the WPS.
This includes the sighting of the biggest China Coast Guard vessel, dubbed a “monster ship,” that was seen near the Ayungin Shoal, according to US maritime security expert Ray Powell on Sunday.
“I hope that the recent swarming incident… reported by the AFP and the Coast Guard at Del Pilar Reef and Escoda Shoal near the Recto Bank, and the ‘dangerous maneuvers’ by the Chinese Coast Guard ships to block Philippine-owned vessels from reaching Ayungin Shoal, would give our military reason to double down on the planned joint patrols of the WPS with the US and other like-minded allies like Japan and Australia,” Villafuerte said.
In a related development, Filipino and American military aircraft conducted air combat and maritime interdiction tactics over the skies of Visayas and Mindanao as part of the aerial exercises of Cope Thunder 2023-2 over the weekend.
“A number of aircraft from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and (US) Pacific Air Force (PACAF) soared into the skies of Visayas and Mindanao during various flight missions under Cope Thunder 2023-2 from July 12-15, 2023,” Air Force spokesperson Col. Ma. Consuelo Castillo said in a statement Monday.
Participating PAF aircraft consisted of four FA-50PH light jet fighters and two A-28B “Super Tucanos,” while five A-10 “Warthogs” came from the PACAF.
These aircraft departed Clark Air Base, Mabalacat City, Pampanga last July 11 for Brig. Gen. Benito N. Ebuen Air Base in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu as preparation for the air drills over Mactan and General Santos City.
The deployment also serves as a simulation of the 5th Fighter Wing’s deployment for next year’s “Pitch Black” exercises in Australia.
Zubiri cited the big disparity in the survey data of those rallying behind the partnership of the Philippines and US against China and those who were opposed to it.
The Senate leader said this would mean “that our people are already angry.”
“They have been fed up with China’s entering our country, especially their incursions on the Reed Bank which is very near El Nido and Coron (in Palawan),” Zubiri said.
The survey came out as the Philippines celebrated the seventh year of the landmark 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which invalidated China’s claims to historic rights within its so-called “nine-dash line.”
The ruling effectively recognized the rights of the Philippines to the WPS as falling within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Despite this ruling, China has continued to sail its ships into the Philippines’ EEZ.
The Senate is expected to approve a resolution urging the Marcos administration to bring the WPS issue back to the United Nations General Assembly amid China’s continued aggression.
According to Zubiri, he has been amenable to Sen. Risa Hontiveros bid to pass a resolution asking the government to file a new protest at The Hague.
“We should not stop at just the arbitral ruling, we should also follow up with the Hague on what is actually going on, on the ground, with China,” he added.
He pointed out that China’s incursions on PH territory “happened almost every day.”
“We should present to the UN the repeated incursions and violations of China against the Hague arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea,” the Senate leader said.
“We should show the video and photographic evidence of their creeping invasion towards our country and our neighbors, with their continuous reclamation of territory within our EEZ and areas that are considered international waters, hampering the freedom of navigation.”
He expects that in the first week of the Senate’s resumption of session, the Hontiveros resolution will be calendared for plenary.
“By Tuesday, we will debate on this. I’m sure we can get the majority to vote in favor of this resolution.”
Citing a pre-weekend report, Villafuerte said the 12,000-ton Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) 5901, which has been nicknamed “The Monster” because of being the world’s biggest coast guard ship, had joined 48 Chinese vessels that reportedly swarmed a portion of the WPS.
According to US security expert Powell, the CCG 5901 has a hangar for rotary-wing aircraft and is reportedly twice as big as those in the Ticonderoga class of guided-missile cruisers of the US Navy.
Villafuerte noted that the Pentagon itself had expressed concern over Beijing’s recent behavior, which US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described as “coercive and risky,” and which the Philippine military and PCG blasted as the latest acts of Chinese harassment, obstruction, and dangerous maneuvers.
He said the planned joint maritime patrols had gained higher ground with the move by 22 countries to support the Philippines’ assertion of its sovereignty over the WPS on the anniversary on July 12 of the 2016 PCA ruling.
Meanwhile, the Cope Thunder exercises started on July 2 and will run until July 21.
The original Cope Thunder exercises, which provided regular flight training for US pilots and those of allied nations, were first held in 1976 and continued annually in the Philippines until 1990.