FINDING ANSWER Former Senator Atty. Joey D. Lina Many are hoping that the state visit of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to China starting today until Jan. 5 would build trust and lead to smoother relations between the Philippines and its giant neighbor. The state visit comes at a time when simmering resentment of Filipinos against China’s recurring intrusions into the West Philippine Sea has heightened anew following the forcible retrieval by the Chinese Coast Guard of rocket debris that fell within Philippine territory. Sen. Francis Tolentino denounced the incident in a privilege speech on Dec. 14 and said it was a “gross violation of Philippine sovereignty under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2016 Arbitral Award.” He also introduced a resolution expressing the sense of the Senate against the “continuous harassment and intimidation tactics of Chinese armed forces in the West Philippine Sea.” The resolution was later approved by the entire body and all senators were made co-authors of the measure expressing their collective disgust. Chinese diplomats denied the use of force in the debris retrieval, claiming that a “friendly consultation” occurred, but video footage presented by Tolentino showed Chinese authorities “assertively taking the space debris in an area well within sovereign Philippine territory.” With a highly respected and trusted senator pointing out that the Chinese Coast Guard did “unfriendly acts” in retrieving the debris, and Chinese diplomats claiming the opposite, it wouldn’t be surprising if Filipinos find their elected official more credible. The issue of trust in the Chinese government has been a nagging issue all these years. Survey after survey in the past have shown majority of Filipinos cannot trust China and they want our government to do more in asserting our country’s rights in the West Philippine Sea. The Social Weather Stations nationwide survey in June of 2018, for instance, showed that the net trust rating of Filipinos for China dropped to a “bad” -35 (18 percent much trust, 53 percent little trust), and that “about eight in 10 Filipinos think it is not right that the government is doing nothing about China’s intrusion in claimed territories.” At around the same time, Pulse Asia also released its own survey results showing that “73 percent of Filipinos want the Philippine government to assert its sovereignty claims as stipulated in the 2016 decision of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration.” It is obvious that amid the distrust of most Filipinos towards China, despite all the positive developments that have supposedly transpired between the Philippines and China during the previous administration, the efforts to pursue and nurture friendship between the two countries have not lessened the negative attitude of the people toward the Chinese government. How President Marcos Jr. will now tackle the issue of persistent intrusions of China into the West Philippine Sea during his China trip is being keenly watched. While it may be true that the territorial dispute does not define the totality of our bilateral relations with China, addressing the lingering issue is of utmost importance to many Filipinos. For our fishermen whose livelihood has been adversely affected by overfishing and the harassment of Chinese boats, resolving the recurring intrusions is what matters most. For those concerned about the environmental destruction and the building of artificial islands, as well as those worried about the future generations of Filipinos who deserve and are entitled to the benefits of our patrimony, addressing China’s expansionism within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is of grave importance. Thus, many are hoping that this state visit would go a long way in developing trust and be truly beneficial towards the pursuit of ideal relations between neighbors. Email: [email protected]