Atin Ito First Filipino Community Newspaper in Ontario
House Speaker Martin Romualdez (PPAB)
Speaker Martin Romualdez said that the House of Representatives will not tolerate the possible arrest of Filipinos within the Philippines’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) by Chinese authorities.
This, as the House leader hit Beijing’s announcement that it will start to arrest foreign nationals in what the Philippine government deems as territorial waters.
“The House of the Filipino People will not tolerate any arrests of our citizens or fishermen within our own,” Romualdez said in a statement Saturday, May 18.
“We will fiercely defend our sovereignty and ensure the safety and rights of our people,” he added in the short but strongly-worded statement.
Romualdez branded China’s aggressive pronouncement on arresting foreigners as a “blatant escalation of tensions in the West Philippine Sea (WPS)”.
READ THiS: https://mb.com.ph/2024/5/15/transgender-solon-issues-tough-message-to-china
“These unilateral actions flagrantly violate international law and the established norms that guide the Philippines and other law-abiding nations with claims in the South China Sea (SCS),” he said.
“China must respect international rulings and act as a responsible member of the global community, rather than imposing its own laws unilaterally and bullying other nations,” said the fourth-highest ranking official of the Philippines.
The WPS is part of the broader SCS. Regional power China imposes “historical claims” over the entire SCS.
A July 2016 ruling from the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague invalidated Beijng’s expansive claims. — Ellson Quismorio
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