Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa said he believes prayer is just the last recourse the Philippines can take if it wants to assert sovereignty over the West Philippine Sea.
The former Philippine National Police (PNP) offered this suggestion as the government’s diplomatic protests against China have fallen on deaf ears.
“Wala na, wala na yang diplomatic protests na yan. Hindi naman nakikinig yang mga Chinese na yan (Those diplomatic protests are nothing. The Chinese do not listen),” Dela Rosa said in an interview with reporters on Tuesday, December 5 when asked about his reaction to the latest sighting of at least 135 Chinese militia ships “swarming” Julian Felipe Reef over the weekend.
“Magdasal tayo kay Lord. Magdasal tayo na huwag tayo pabayaan ni Lord. Yun na lang (Let’s just pray to the Lord. Let’s pray that the Lord will not abandon us. That’s all we can do),” he said.
Dela Rosa said it would be difficult for the Philippines to go to war against China given that Beijing is undoubtedly more equipped than the country.
“Ang hirap no? Ang hirap talaga. Hindi naman tayo pwedeng makipag-gyera so lahat ng diplomatic protest natin fell on deaf ears. Wala. Hindi nila tayo pinakikinggan (It’s difficult, right? It’s really difficult. But we can’t go to war so all our diplomatic protest fell on deaf ears. Nothing. They don’t listen to us),” he pointed out.
Earlier in the day, opposition Sen. Risa Hontiveros said the Philippine government should now do more than file diplomatic protests against China.
“By now, we should be doing more than fire off a diplomatic protest. We have to execute actionable on-the-ground steps to prevent the Chinese from any reclamation and base-building activities in Julian Felipe,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
Hontiveros said she trusts that the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea would know the next step to do this time.