Senate ‘pushback’: Zubiri says blistering resolution vs China coming

FILE PHOTO: A screenshot taken from the US Department of State’s website shows a map of the South China Sea that was among the materials used to analyze China’s claim over an area encompassed by the so-called nine-dash line. In a 47-page study, the department said Beijing’s maritime claims in the South China Sea are “inconsistent with international laws reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

MANILA,  Philippines — Stressing the need for a “pushback,” Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday revealed that the upper chamber is set to pass next week a “strongly worded” resolution condemning China’s repeated incursions in Philippine territory.

Congress will open its 2nd regular session on Monday, July 24.

Zubiri talked about this plan in a press briefing on Tuesday after refusing to comment on former President  Rodrigo Duterte’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Zubiri decided to instead discuss their plan to elevate China’s continued violations of the 2016 arbitral decision before the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

READ: PH wins arbitration case over South China Sea

“Basta importante this coming week of the Sona (State of the Nation Address),  we will pass a strongly worded resolution of our disgust, of our frustration, of our anger, as shown by all the Pulse Asia and other surveys of the Filipino people on the repeated incursions of our exclusive economic zone very, very close to the Philippine territory… It’s a hairline distance to the Philippines,” he said.

Zubiri said 95 percent of senators are “in unison”  in condemning  China’s  “creeping invasion of our nation.”

“Hopefully the Senate will come up with a solid stand on this issue and napakahalagang malaman po ng United Nations sa pitong  taon na ito lalong lumapit pa sila (China) sa ating bansa at kailangan  po natin ng tulong ng international community na i condemn po itong mga actions na ito,” he said.

(Hopefully the Senate will come up with a solid stand on this issue, and it is very important for the United Nations to know that in these seven years, they get closer and closer to our country, and we need the help of the international community to condemn these actions)

READ: Research ‘pushback’ urged vs China in PH waters

The Senate leader said he fears the Philippines would soon lose a territory to China if does not fight back.

“That’s why we’re fighting back, we’re pushing  back,” Zubiri said.

In the looming resolution, Zubiri said the Senate would request the Philippine government to take the issue before the UNGA by showing  them proof  of China’s continued incursions and repeated bullying tactics in  the disputed West Philippine Sea.

Once approved, a copy of the resolution would be sent to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).

READ: PH execs cheer Euro nations’ pushback vs China, but…

“Napakasimple lang po and if we don not  do a pushback, if we do not stand on this particular issue as a nation baka paggising po natin bukas nandun na sila  sa El Nido, Palawan ,at baka i-claim  na rin po nila ‘yan kung hindi po tatayo at manindigan dito sa position na ito,”  Zubiri said.

(It’s very simple, and if we don’t do a pushback, if we don’t stand on this particular issue as a nation, they might be there in El Nido, Palawan when we wake up tomorrow, and claim it as theirs if we don’t stand up and take a firm position on this matter.)

Unlike the DFA, he said, the Senate does not need to be diplomatic in dealing with the country’s issues with China.

READ: Explainer: Why dangerous encounters by US and Chinese militaries look set to continue

“I think its important that we maintain this type of independence from the exeuctive so if the executive wants to remain diplomatic about it, we don’t have to be held by that diplomacy but we can express our sentiments as what we should do in this particular issue,” Zubiri ezplained.

“It is a nationalist issue, it’s an issue of our territory. Ayoko pong magising po tayo na wala na po iyong  Palawan sa atin (I don’t want us to wake up without Palawan). That will bea failure on our part as a society and as a people and this generation to allow that to happen…,” he also said.

Zubiri noted how Vietnam stood against China when it banned the film Barbie over a scene featuring a map that shows Beijing’s unilaterally claimed territory in the South China Sea.

READ: China’s snub of US military leader highlights escalation risk

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