Palace: No Chinese flag on sandbar

Malacañang on Thursday said there was no Chinese flag on a sandbar off Kota Island, disputing an earlier claim by Magdalo Rep. Gary Alejano.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said he got the information from a “very reliable source” whom he did not identify.

Alejano earlier said the flag was planted on the sandbar around the third week of July by a Chinese vessel.

“I inquired about that and apparently, as of this stage, there is no flag, you know, as of this stage,” said Abella.—LEILA B. SALAVERRIA