Teodoro calls out China for ‘roguish behavior’ in WPS

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. (File photo by RYAN LEAGOGO / INQUIRER.net)

EL NIDO, Palawan, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. called out China on Monday for its “roguish behavior” — specifically, using water cannons twice in a row on Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

On Dec. 9, Saturday, the China Coast Guard (CCG) fired water cannons again at civilian ships on a humanitarian mission for Filipino fishers off Scarborough Shoal.

The CCG also used a water cannon on Dec. 13, Sunday, against a boat on a resupply mission to the BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal.

READ: NTF-WPS condemns China’s dangerous maneuvers, water cannon attack

“Undoubtedly, they are a big country, but if we allow their illegal and roguish behavior, that will mean our acceptance. We cannot do that,” Teodoro said in Filipino.

“China’s intent is to occupy the entire South China Sea because that’s what they say: They own it. We cannot allow that because that is against the law, that is against the international law.”

Earlier this year, in August and in November, the CCG also used water cannons against Manila’s resupply fleet for the BRP Sierra Madre.

China continues to assert its sovereignty in almost the entire South China Sea — including most of the West Philippine Sea — despite a 2016 ruling of the Permanent Court of Arbitration effectively dismissing its claims.