THE Philippines will raise the issue of Chinese missiles on the disputed Kagitingan Reef when the two sides meet on the South China Sea dispute, the Palace said Thursday.
“I think that will be covered by the bilateral consultative mechanism,” Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella told reporters at Malacañang.
Abella added that the country’s growing economic relationship with China would not affect the government’s commitment to protecting Philippine territory.
“Those are two separate situations,” Abella said, noting that the bilateral consultative mechanism enabled both countries to keep economic ties on a separate track from areas of disagreement.
The first China-Philippines bilateral consultation mechanism on the South China Sea dispute will be held in Guiyang in China’s Guizhou province on May 19.
The Chinese delegation will be led by Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin.
The rocket launcher defense system on Kagitingan Reef, designed to discover, identify and attack enemy combat divers, was an apparent response by Beijing to Vietnamese divers who installed large numbers of fishing nets in the Paracel Islands.
China claims more than 90 percent of the South China Sea where Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have overlapping claims.
Panganiban Reef, which is 70 nautical miles from Palawan and is located within the country’s 200 nautical miles exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has been occupied by China since 1994, when Beijing transformed the reef into a highly fortified military garrison.
There are more than 40 reef islands in the South China Sea which have been occupied and even garrisoned by other countries.
Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday warned that the reported installation of rocket launchers in the Fiery Cross Reef, also known as Kagitingan Reef, will just be the start of Beijing’s plans to militarize artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea waters.
“That is just the start because the rockets they installed [are] just short range,” Carpio said in a speaking engagement before the Rotary Club of Makati-West.
Carpio warned that China may soon install its anti-aircraft missiles with a range of at least 200 kilometers “slowly” to avoid international condemnation from neighboring countries.
“They are trying to militarize it slowly and not suddenly so that there will be no uproar,” Carpio said.
“Expect them to install later on their HQ9 anti-aircraft missiles with a range of 200 kilometers.”
The magistrate also expressed dismay at the government’s apparent lack of conviction to use its victory in the arbitral court in connection with its territorial dispute with China.
“I have listed down all of those courses of action, nonconfrontational, legal, in my e-book, and I have given them copies. But it’s up to them, I really cannot impose on them,” Carpio said.
“As they say, it’s difficult to wake up a sleeping person who’s pretending to be asleep,” he added, saying that he has forwarded relevant documents and his lectures on the West Philippine Sea to the government, but he said these may have fallen on “deaf ears.”
A Foreign Affairs spokesman said the country would raise the issue on the missiles with China, once the reports of their existence are verified.
Unlike Abella, however, the department spokesman Robespierre Bolivar was unsure if the issue would be brought up at the first meeting between Chinese and Philippine officials on Friday.
“It’s an inaugural meeting so we have to temper our expectations,” he said.
“We now have this exclusive mechanism for discussing maritime issues. But since this is an inaugural meeting what is important is to first decide how we institutionalize the process, and how do we move forward,” he added.
