ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro (Facebook)

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro has branded Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian's statements regarding the Taiwan situation as "condemnable".

"It is condemnable that China seems to be issuing a threat not just against the Philippines as a country but to innocent overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who were obligated to work abroad to create  better lives for their families," Castro said in a statement Saturday morning  April 15.

"Hindi advise ang sinasabi ni Ambassador Huang kundi banta at pagdidikta sa Pilipinas. Marapat na kundenahin ito at ipatimo sa China na dapat nitong sundin ang 2016 arbitral ruling hinggil sa West Philippine Sea (Ambassador Huang did not give an advice, rather it was a threat and a dictation to the Philippines. This must be condemned and China should be told that it must follow the 2016 arbitral ruling on the West Philippine Sea)," the Makabayan solon said.

In a forum Friday, Huang advised the Philippimes to unequivocally oppose the independence of Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.

He further said that the Philippines shouldn't offer the United States (US) access to its military bases near the Taiwan Strait if it care genuinely about the 150,000 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Taiwan.

The Philippines had just added four more sites to its Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) with the US. This gave the American troops access to additional bases in the country, which has always been a strategic location in the Pacific.

This took place amid heightened tension between China and Taiwan.

"We agree that the US are using the new EDCA sites for their geopolitical objectives and that must be opposed and stopped but China's aggressive actions and militarization of the West Philippine Sea (WPS) should also cease," Castro said.

"The Philippines must chart a truly independent foreign policy and not one that is tied to one imperialist bully like the US or China," she added.

In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hague ruled to invalidate China's expansive nine-dash line claim the South China Sea, where the WPS is located.