“A grave insult, revolting and sickening”. This is how Surigao del Norte Representative Robert Ace S. Barbers described the claim of China over Julian Felipe reef and the rest of the West Philippine Sea.
“For hundreds of years China never laid claim on these territories within the West Philippine Sea which are part of our Exclusive Economic Zone and recognized by international bodies and many countries. Suddenly and just recently, it was like magic that the entire West Philippine Sea became theirs. This method or process of annexation should never be countenanced, not by any self-respecting Philippine government nor any sovereign nation and international body for that matter”, Barbers said.
“Thousands upon thousands of Filipinos have died fighting for our sovereignty and freedom. It would be a sacrilege to them and to us living if we allow this affront to our dignity as a nation and as a people. We should not have allowed a single pail of concrete or a piece of nail to touch our sacred land. Now that they have built complete concrete structures and encircled our territory with their militia ships, we should not and cannot simply keep quiet and allow a creeping invasion to happen right under our noses. We owe it to our countrymen who made the ultimate sacrifice, for us to know the value of freedom”, Barbers added.
“I commend Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana for demanding and daring the Chinese Ambassador to honor his word that the ships were there to seek shelter during the bad weather and would leave as the weather improved. It has been weeks that the weather is good yet they are all still there. I assure Secretary Lorenzana that I will support him in this fight. We need other patriotic Filipinos like him so that no country can ever bully us again. I hope that the good Secretary is joined by the other members of the Cabinet in his stance against China, but Secretary Lorenzana should walk the talk. For instance, we already know and admitted that the ships are militia ships. Why then can we not send our naval ships to impose our presence and show our resolve to defend our territory? This is already a creeping invasion, are we waiting for the naval armada of the enemy to be paraded before our eyes before we even try to lift a finger?”, Barbers said.
“Lastly, I want to tell our neighbor China that our land does not come cheap and is not for sale nor trade. Neither are we ceding any portion of our territory in exchange for anything or for fear of being bullied any further. This is not the Treaty of Paris nor the Opium War. The blood spilt by our forefathers is priceless. On this hallowed ground, I make my stand. The Philippines is for the Filipinos. Make no mistake about it. I call on all freedom loving and genuinely patriotic Filipinos to make a united stand against this bully. Let us all train our guns on them, from social media to their exports and their goods, just like what they did to the western goods in their malls and stores. They do not stand a chance against us. The world has seen many times the bravery of the Filipino. Perhaps this is the time to show this bully that this little fellow packs a knockout punch, ala Manny Pacquiao”, Barbers said. (Press Release)
