Hontiveros on PH participation in ASEAN emergency summit: We have to help Myanmar mb.com.ph - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mb.com.ph Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published April 7, 2021, 11:40 AM
Opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday renewed her call for the Senate to look into the possible collaboration and collusion of some Filipino entities in the construction of China’s artificial islands and military installations in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Sen. Risa Hontiveros
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO)
Hontiveros said it is imperative that the Upper Chamber investigates the issue as China brazenly takes over parts of the Philippine’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
“Sino ang nang-traydor sa mga Pilipino? May nagbenta ba ng mga teritoryo natin? (Who was the traitor among the Filipinos? Did somebody sell our territories?) We need to find out,” Hontiveros said in a statement on April 7.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
“He is really the one in the hot seat in terms of command responsibility,” Hontiveros said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel on April 7.
The opposition said this as she attributed the Philippines’ current “sorry state” to the way leaders in the IATF address the pandemic.
“I’m sorry, but the sorry state we are in right now ay dahil sa napakamahina at di mahusay na pandemic response sa pamumuno ng IATF (is because of the very poor and ineffective pandemic response of the IATF leadership),” she lamented.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros(Senate of the Philippines / MANILA BULLETIN)
Senator Risa Hontiveros said the ASEAN should stand together against China’s “bullying” and strengthen its cooperation to counter Beijing’s territorial claims in the region.
“The ASEAN should stand together against China’s bullying. We should put our differences aside and work towards the common goal of opposing unfounded and over-ambitious Chinese territorial claims in the region,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“The ASEAN should be able to compel China to reach a consensus on the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea,” she stressed.
The senator warned that if ASEAN fails to adopt a common stand on the South China Sea, the Philippines couldn’t safeguard “our shared interests.”
Sen. Risa Hontiveros
(Senate of the Philippines / FILE PHOTO)
“The Philippines is not alone. The international community stands beside us in condemning China’s continued deceit and aggression. China better pack up and leave,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
“The world is catching on to China’s gray zone smokescreen. How long will it keep using ‘civilian’ vessels to pursue military activities in our EEZ? A strategy based on lies and deception does not always make one sublime; sometimes, it also exposes one as lying,” she further said.
Hontiveros had heavily criticized the continued presence of Chinese vessels in the Julian Felipe Reef, which is part of the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone (EEZ).