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China must first stop its “predatory activities” in the West Philippine Sea before the Department of National Defense (DND) will restore the military-to-military dialogue between Manila and Beijing, Defense Secretary Gibo Teodoro Jr. said Wednesday.
“All their actions now from their messaging to their assertion of disputed sovereignty and jurisdiction over areas where they have no rights to do so, they must turn back from that because there is no basis whatsoever in international law and in UNCLOS,” he said.
“They must stop their predatory activities in the Pacific and in the West Philippine Sea which is a threat to regional and global security. It is obviously a threat to regional security and several countries have voiced concern about this,” he stressed.
He issued the remark when asked about specific actions that China must take in order to prompt him to restore communications.
This came after the Chinese Embassy in Manila accused Teodoro of suspending the military-to-military communication between China and Philippines for his “political self interests.”
Teodoro, however, said that the dialogue between Manila and Beijing was severed three years ago.
“That is inaccurate because that happened about three years ago. So hindi ngayon nangyari iyon. Matagal na ‘yun kasi nga inaabuso nila ‘yung mga proseso natin,” he said.
(That is inaccurate because that happened about three years ago. So that did not happen now. That was a long time ago because they are abusing our processes.)
“So hininto ko ‘yung direct communication except for one line,” he added.
(So I stopped direct communication except for one line.)
For his part, Teodoro said he did not see the value in a dialogue with Beijing.
“Kasi nga, walang structure ‘yung communications flow at ito ay naaubos lamang. So hindi bagong desisyon ito. Matagal na ito kaya hindi ko alam kung [bakit] parang kahapon lang nangyari,” he said.
(Since there was no structure in the communications flow and it was simply being depleted. So this is not a new decision. This happened a long time ago, which is why I don’t know why it seems like it only happened yesterday.)
Meanwhile, Teodoro expressed disappointment with comments that there will be a war with China due to the suspension.
He said the DND is merely standing up for the country’s sovereignty.
“Hindi giyera ang pinag uusapan natin eh. Naninindigan lang tayo sa pride ng bansa natin. Ngayon kung walang pride ang isang tao na naninindigan ang AFP at saka DND para sa soberanya niya sa abot ng ating makakaya, anong klase tayong mamamayan?” he said.
(We’re not talking about war. We’re just standing firm on our country’s pride. Now, if a person has no pride in standing firm as the AFP and the DND do for our sovereignty to the best of our ability, what kind of citizens are we?)
Teodoro also said that such remarks are insulting to Filipino troops.
“‘Yung mga nang ga-gaslighting— kailangan alamin na rin ng mga taong bayan natin ‘yung mga gaslighting na ‘yan is our worst enemy. At minsan ang Filipino is our worst enemy sometimes,” he said.
(Those who are gaslighting—we also need our people to understand that gaslighting is our worst enemy. And sometimes, the Filipino is our worst enemy sometimes.) —RF, GMA News