Removal of China's floating barrier consistent with PH stand on WPS --- Manalo

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on Tuesday, September 26 said the removal of China’s floating barrier in Scarborough Shoal is consistent with the Philippine government’s position on the West Philippine Sea. 

Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo presents the proposed P24.06-billion budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and its attached agencies for 2024, during the Senate Finance Subcommittee's budget hearing on Tuesday, September 26, 2023. (Senate PRIB Photo)

“Technically, since we have a right to practice our sovereignty and our sovereign rights, so it would have been consistent with our position (in the WPS),” Manalo told reporters in an interview at the sidelines of the Senate’s hearing on the proposed P24.06-billion budget of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for 2024. 

In the meantime, Manalo said they are “still waiting for the full report” regarding its removal.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday had accused the Philippines of intruding in the Scarborough Shoal “without their permission.”

The Chinese ministry also admitted to putting the floating barriers “to block and drive away” Philippine vessels encroaching in the area. 

Wang Wenbin, spokesperson of the Chinese foreign ministry, insists that Scarborough Shoal has always been part of China territory. 

Asked if the Philippines will file another case against China before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Manalo said they will “study the procedures.”

“We also have many other concerns like climate change and migration and other issues,” he said.

“Our aim is to try and manage our disputes with China and we have made that very clear. And our aim is to manage disputes peacefully and through the rule of law and international law,” he added. 

“We both recognize that we have differences in the South China Sea but we already said that we will not make that the only factor in our relationship with China. But nevertheless, it’s a difference. We have agreed to manage it and so the challenge is how to manage it properly,” he stressed.