Related report:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110305-323560/China-snubs-PH-protest
The Philippines filed a diplomatic protest Thursday with China over the intrusion of two Chinese patrol boats Wednesday into Reed Bank in Western Palawan where a seismic survey is being conducted by the Department of Energy.
A text message from Communications Secretary Ricky Carandang said: “I confirm the incident on March 2, 2011 (that) two Chinese patrol boats encountered a Phil-sanctioned vessel conducting seismic surveys in the Western Palawan. The Chinese boats warned the vessel away and the vessel moved away from its position.
“We have sought an explanation from the Chinese Embassy regarding the matter. The vessel is expected to resume its normal activities in a few days.”
The Chinese Embassy, through its spokesperson Ethan Y. Sun, issued the following statement Friday:
I noted the related report. What I want to point out is that, ever since ancient times, China has indisputable sovereignty over Nansha Islands and their adjacent waters. China has been consistently sticking to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. The Chinese side maintains that the related disputes should be resolved through peaceful negotiations. Thank you and have a nice day.
An earlier report said Armed Forces Western Command Chief Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban sent recon planes to Reed Bank in the South China Sea Philippine Area of the South China Sea to check on the Chinese ship that reportedly warned a Philippine ship there securing oil exploration. Chinese ship left right away. There was no confrontation.
“We will not allow ourselves to be bullied. This is our territory. We are just doing to protect the integrity of our territory,” Sabban said.
The Philippines and China are two of the claimants of islands in the South China Sea. China claims the whole South China Sea while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan claim parts of the vast area.
Reed Bank which is 240 kilometers west of Palawan has been found to be have oil deposits equivalent to 440 million barrels. “I’m wondering why China would intrude into Reed Bank when it is not a disputed area,” an official said.
Photo credit: VERA Files
Will the Philippines allow itself to be bullied again by China in the Spratlys? In our own territory?
Let’s see how the new foreign secretary handles this.
Whew! Finally got in!!!
Someone was saying that the Chinese vessels that shooed away the RP Dept of Energy vessel could be Chinese fishing vessels in fact… Well, if they were Chinese fishing vessels, then they must be huge to be able to terrify a poor unarmed RP ship of the seismic study type. And true, have heard that the Chinese fishing vessels have been armed. They probably learned their lesson when sometime in 1997, Philippine Navy vessel sank a Chinese fishing vessel by firing 50caliber guns at water line.
The Chinese have made it a point that ALL OF CHINA SEA belongs to China and are questonning the EEZ policy, even that of the UN’s on where their ownership ends and where that of other countries in the region begins.
Should we or our dear benighted leadership sitting in Malacanang accept Chinese policy without batting an eyelash?
The Chinese are using the name of China Sea in bad faith… Imagine if the Indians decide to do the same and say, Indian Ocean, and say, “All of the ocean is ours, you gotta pay toll to go through?”
Also, Gulf of Mexico… can you imagine if the Mexicans say, all of the Gulf is ours, American ships are not allowed passage, oh boy, oh boy!!! That’s why I say, the Chinese claim that ALL OF CHINA SEA is theirs smacks of bad faith!
What I’d like to know if Pres Aquino (or the DFA “acting secretary”) has come out publicly to make known RP sentiment to Filipinos too??? At least come out of the closet and say with great diplomatic skill — that is if they don’t want to ruffle Chinese feathers, that we cannot have foreign naval ships entering our territorial waters and shoo shooing our own govt ships??? There are times that we need to pipe down but not when we are ALMOST BEING INVADED!!! If at all our beloved president can use this incident to get the Chinese on side!!!
While I do realise that the President, who is going to China in May, is fearful for the Filipino workers in China but workers in China are not the same issue as virtual invasion!!! Sanamagan! He is bobo! If he only sat and think for a minute, he would find ways to do well with the Chinese while not surrendering our sovereignity! Bobo talaga! Sa susunod niyan, invade na nila ang Palawan. Baka nasa tuktok na sila ng Mt Salakot (in Palawan) next time!!!
And plant their flag at the top of Mount Salakot which is where WESCOM observation point is.
While I do realise that the President, who is going to China in May, is fearful for the Filipino workers in China but workers in China are not the same issue as virtual invasion!!! Sanamagan! He is bobo! If he only sat and think for a minute, he would find ways to do well with the Chinese while not surrendering our sovereignity! Bobo talaga! Sa susunod niyan, invade na nila ang Palawan. Baka nasa tuktok na sila ng Mt Salakot (in Palawan) next time!!!
I’m all for Aquino hanging his head in shame over the Luneta incident but by God, he will be roasted alive, and the Filipinos by extension, if he keeps on this mea culpa act. In the immediate, Aquino has to show a bit of pride — even if he’s afraid of the Chinese! He could very well clothe his sentiment in a generalised manner if he really wants to.
He should come out PUBLICLY and as commander in chief of the Republic of the Philippines proclaim: “We are investigating this but let me assure you my fellow countrymen and women that it is unacceptable for our sovereignity to be violated!” or some sort of similar rubbish! TAPOS!
I wonder what Volt Gazmin is feeling about this. He is the defence chief and by virtue of that role, he could actually take the cudgels for the president vis a vis the Chinese. Heck, he used to be brave when he defended Malacanang or during the time of Cory Aquino… where is he today? I know, he’s doing shopping, buying equipment for the AFP left right and center but that’s not the only role of the DND chief!!!
Ang mga intsik talaga mahirap intindihin. Dapat ang kay Juan kay Juan. Ang kay Pedro kay Pedro. Bakit itong China na kay Juan inaagaw pati kay Pedro.
Ngayon pa ba isusuko yang Reed Bank e kumpirmado nang merong 3.4 TRILYON cubic feet (oo, trillion!) na natural gas sa Sampaguita Discovery? (Hmmm parang pangalang ng beerhouse yang Sampaguita Discovery, wala na bang mas matinong pangalan?)
Maximum 20 Trillion cubic feet yan, hindi basta-basta, BIGTIME YAN! Muntik nang ipamigay ni Putot sa Intsik at Vietcong.
Tongue, maybe Razon without telling anybody signed a promisory note (kind of MOA) with the Chinese!
“We will not allow ourselves to be bullied. This is our territory,” Sabban said.
__
Wooooot! Wooooot! Her we come to defend out territory! GO, Gen Sabban, Go, go!!!
Good of Sabban to save a bit of our country’s dignity!
Ellen, there’s nothing about this in the papers… is there a news blackout on this???
Anong panlaban ni Sabban sa Chinese? tirador…
Not saying we ought to go to war with China, because that’s next to impossible but by gum, Aquino could at least make a show (a la Oscar awards speech) that he would not tolerate foreign naval ships making incursion and shoo shooing our own govt ships at gun point! C’mon!
Imagine if someone went to your garden which waspart of your property and shooed you away telling you to get out of there, would you just go away with your head between your legs because the guy was big and was menacing?
cocoy, you’re dousing my spirit with cold water, hahaha! ‘Kaw naman, panahon ni Goyang di pwede silang magsalita ng ganyan katapang, pagbigyan na natin. 🙂
ano mayroon ang taiwan kung bakit hindi nila ma invade?
Chi, Sige na nga, pagbigyan na kita.Hehehehehe!
Bumibili kasi sila ng palpak na baril at bala noong panahon ni Aling Goyang sa Chinatown at bumbilya ng mga helicopter ng Air Force.Baka ngayon mabago na, baka sa US na mamili si Penoy, may kalidad na at di na agad mapundi ang bumbilya.
Hindi kaya naisangla na ni aling Goyang ang Titulo ng Pinas sa China?
Good luck with the Chinese… see you in a few days!!! Ciao!
Cocoy: hhindi ang ginamit ni David sa laban kay Goliath ay tirador? who knows by a miracle patatalo rin natin sa isang tirador ang China..
ADB: who knows pagbalik mo chow mein na ang China…
rose,
Malaki ang mata ni Goliath kaya tinamaan kaagad ni David ng kanyang tirador. Ang problema mga instik ay singkit.Hehehe!
Mahal na ang gasolina ngayon.$4 na isang gallon.Lagyan na ng jetmatic iyan deposito ng langis sa reed bank para makabomba na ng mapakinabangan naman ng mga Pinoy.
Sean Gourley on the mathematics of war
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sean_gourley_on_the_mathematics_of_war.html
Hhhmmm! Black gold!
Pera ibig sabihin!
Mag unahan na naman ang 2 lahi masipag pagdating sa pera.
Yung isa mananakot para magka pera. Yung isa manlilinlang para magka pera.
I was there at the Reed Bank when Amoco and Salen drilled exploratory wells in the mid 70’s. There was one incident when there was a Vietnamese navy vessel seen over the horizon circling the drilling rig Brinkerhoff 1. The barge master was the father of singer Billy Crawford who called the then SOWESCOM when the ship turned towards the drilling rig. The Tora-toras from Puerto Princesa were scrambled and strafed close to the first vessel they saw near the rig which was our standby boat. The pilots mistook the boat which was flying no flags so the boat captain rushed out to the deck waving a US flag and pointed at the direction of the Vietnamese vessel which immediately withdrew.
Having been in the oil industry, I know that there is a great potential for oil and gas in the South China Sea. However, it has been known that there exists overlapping claims in this region which poses a big problem for companies interested in the area. It is a possible flash point for conflict in the region. American oil companies dominates the oil industry but recently the rise of China and even India is being felt. Recently these two countries won bids against western oil companies in Eastern Europe particularly in the Caspian Sea region. There is a possibility that we could get caught in between a rock and a hard place if we are not careful. So far the new DFA secretary’s first few days have been laudable giving us good reason to hopeful.
Speaking of invasion, have not the chinese like Henry Sy, Gocongwei, the rice cartel, the chinese in Binondo, and all those chinese who have controlled our agriculture chain already been invading us? Many of us filipinos have lost our sustenance for our life and that of our family to them. Do we have defenders against their invasion? What is defense forces doing about this?
What filipino soldiers among us are doing today are, torturing or killing brother filipinos or taking away our money to enrich themselves with insurgency program. Meanwhile it is the foreigners whom they generally defend.
But there are still filipino soldiers among us who do what soldiers are supposed to do. We still have filipino soldiers who knows what the role of a soldier is: it is not, no it is not running after and killing brother filipinos; it is defending our nation against foreign, yes it is against foreign invaders. Gen Sabban proved himself an authentic filipino soldier that would make Gen Ricarte, Gen Antonio Luna and all our elder warriors who gave so much of their lives defending our nation against the north american invaders, proud.
“I’m wondering why China would intrude into Reed Bank when it is not a disputed area,” an official said.”
Because of the oil, of course….
Prime commodity…. I think it’s a no-brainer. Very obvious
Hi Ellen,
Back — can’t get away from this thread, means a lot to me, the Spratly issue/territorial waters/EEZ:
To begin with, allow me to answer the official who asked
Answer: It is a disputed area. If the official cares to look at the charts, he will discover that the Chinese have drawn a ring around the waters that they claim are theirs and which includes Reed Bank/Seamount.
That said, the Philippines too is claiming Reed Bank, hence it is legally a disputed area.
That China claims it to be part of their EEZ is neither here nor there based on the fact that no agreement has been reached between China and the Philippines as to where limit zones are drawn. In other words, China is also within her right legally to bully whoever she wishes provided of course the other ship allows to be bullied.
However, if we are to act based on the UN “doctrine” that in theory, a country has a right “to explore” or “to exploit” waters within 200miles from baseline, then we are within our legal and moral right to stake a claim and stand by it, i.e., Reed Bank.
I consulted google and checked out the charts of the disputed waters and based on what I saw, the Reed Bank is located well within the Philippine EEZ and not exactly 100% sure but from what I viewed on my screen, Reed Bank is some 120-140 miles off our baseline (again based on the map that showed RP territorial waters).
Hence, if we follow the EEZ “doctrine”, the Philippine [sanctionned] ship that was shooed away at naval gun point by the Chinese was well within her rights to “explore” and even “exploit” that area. And that the Chinese while within their right to protest because they too claim that part of the disputed area, were not only being hostile but had shown that they were prepared to go into a shooting war.
It is fortunate that the ship that China navy had shooed and threatened to sandwich was a civilian ship and therefore was quite right to back off. Question is what if it had been one of our naval ships????
How would our dear, intelligent, hardworking, very competent president have reacted????
In my book, the only way for the Philippines to continue staking her claim over the other disputed “islets” is to patrol the area.
First of all, Ellen, I would like you very much to ask the president, but if you can’t ask him personally because he’s got lots to do and also need time to play with his game box, perhaps you could ask MGen Sabban:
General Sabban, what currently are your rules of engagement with regard to the patrolling by the navy (Jesus Christ, I wonder if we are even patrolling there!) of the disputed areas off the coast of Palawan, i.e., Spratly islands, etc?
Is it:
(1) Don’t start a shooting war?
(2) Fire back only for defence
(3) Back down (sensible thing particularly if our patrol boat is no match to “enemy”), i.e., retreat!
In my book, the only way for the Philippines to continue staking her claim over the other disputed “islets” is to patrol the area, eg., send patrol ships there.
But this patrolling can only be really meaningful if we stand by the mission… continue to patrol and even if our navy ship encounters some China navy vessels and try to intimidate our own, our navy ship stays. However, because, one can never tell what might happen during such “encounters”, it is essential, but bloody essential to know what our dear, hardworking, extra-competent president’s instructions with regard to our own NAVAL RULES OF ENGAGEMENT!
We are bloody lucky that China bullied a civilian ship but what happens next time?
Or is the instruction of the president very simple: No patrolling in that area… never mind na lang, kasi alam mo, mahirap na eh, saka, later na lang!
(Putangina mo!)
Screen captures of the charts that show where China draws her claims (clearly beyond the 200m EEZ) and ours including the mapping of our territorial waters:
Manila Watch: President Aquino, what are the rules of engagement off the Coast of Palawan?
Or is the instruction of the president very simple: “No patrolling in that area… never mind na lang, kasi alam mo, mahirap na eh, saka, later na lang!”
Ellen,
According to this report:
Have also just read DFA acting sec del Rosario’s pronouncement:
Am a bit confused (or is it Mr del Rosario who is confused)…
(1) Reed Bank, based on the charts that I consulted on Google is located some 120-140 miles off Palawan baseline which is I reckon some 250kms from Palawan
(2) UNCLOS provisions on territorial waters (sovereign right to do as we damn please with the waters): 12m from baseline
In other words, Reed Bank cannot be quite considered our territory if it is in the disputed area… Again, I’m basing this on the Google charts (maybe it’s not the right one but I think it’s not wrong either).
Moreover, in those charts, the Chinese have drawn up their claim that included the Reed Bank, in that sense, it’s wrong for Mr del Rosario to say it was our territory inasmuch as there is a standing dispute (Sure we can say it is ours but so can the Chinese).
A clarification is required…
ellen,
Actually, the Philippine Navy need not have so many assets to enforce Philippine claim. Currently we have enough assets if we are only speaking of patrol missions.
Now, let’s talk of patrolling missions… All it takes is a weekly deployment to “enforce our claim”.
Reed Bank is some 140m off Palawan baseline which also happens to be Western Command naval base.. It would take a corvette size ship (Navy has 3 modern upgraded, ultra-refurbished ones today, one of which they can deploy there among other missions), eg., one day to go there and another day to go back so say a total of 48 to 60 hours on patrol mission back and forth …
And that’s enough for a weekly patrol basis… Absolutely no need to do more… We don’t need a full armada either to show that we are serious about our claim…
China flexing its muscles because Pinas has shown its weakness. In particular, last December, Ochoa/Lacierda advised Presi-Noynoy NOT to file protest when China put up a lighthouse on a Spratly island.
China bully-strength, meeting weakness of Noynoy-leadership, continues to bully.
Anna, thanks for the enlightening loads of info.
“…Or is the instruction of the president very simple: ““No patrolling in that area… never mind na lang, kasi alam mo, mahirap na eh, saka, later na lang!””
Mas matapang pala si Cocoy, titiradurin nya ang mga singkit! 🙂
Chi, 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Kailangan pala ay pakawalan ang mga Dominguez brothers para may pagkuhanan tayo ng inner tube ng gulong para gawing tirador.
# 33
Anna:
That is the old definition – the 12 mile limit.
There is the archipelagic doctrine, espoused by the Philippines through Turing Tolentino. For a country/archipelago like the Philippines, you take the northernmost point, the southernmost point, westernmost, and easternmost point of the archipelago. You connect the four points, and you have the archipelagic waters. That, certainly will be more than 12 miles in certain parts; between Palawan and Luzon, for example.
If we adhered to the 12 mile doctrine, then there will be waters between say, Cebu and Mindanao, or Negros and Mindanao, which are not part of Philippine territory.
There is an anecdote about Turing Tolentino (sly fox) told by Justice Coquia (Don’t know if it is true). He said there were waters which were not part of the Philippines, but which we wanted (west of Palawan). Turing said, then put a dot there in the map. Nobody will check anyway, and draw our westernmost baseline from that dot.
Sax,
Ah is that so…
Then that’s how the chart has been drawn (mixed up of course with the Chinese claim of their territorial waters. .
If you look at the ‘new’ EEZ charts (wikimedia org), I think it’s exactly what or how they’ve done it. The 12m zone I refer to, based on the chart, is outside the archipelagic zone of the Philippines, i.e., 4 or even 6 points drawn from the extremities of the entire archipelago.
Anna re #33, although we are aware of Chinese claim over the whole of the South China sea, and we concede the other islands in the south China sea as disputed, Reed Bank is another matter.
The Philippine position is, it’s within our territory. The Philippines has entered into commercial agreements with multinational firms to explore the area.
For purposes of negotiation as well as public consumption, del Rosario and for that matter all government officials have to assert that Reed Bank is Philippine territory.
Personally, I will not subscribe to established but old western templates in diffusing this uniquely “asian” and recent situation. We cannot use old methods to solve new problems. The old saber rattling, stand up to a big bully, will not work here but diplomacy will. Our leaders do not have to resort to a show of force or threats (the Americans would love that) but to communicate with a neighbor and ally that there are more things at stake here that a show of force will address. In this day and age we have to understand that “wars” are a “lose/lose” scenario but peaceful coexistence is a more proactive approach.
This is an “asian” issue to it should be solved the asian way, dialogues, diplomacy, guided by the bigger picture not the myopic view of win/lose or pride or face saving philosophy.
The Chinese will respect our leaders if they see that their own people respect them, they will never understand how easy it is for us to trash talk our leaders and get away with it.
Aquino is no stranger to bloodshed, he has bullets still lodged in his body to prove that, unless we can do the same, its quite pretentious to talk about balls in this issue,
The best way to deal with the Chinese is to show them a united front, that we will rally behind our leaders when the country is threatened, otherwise they will just laugh at us as another rabble that run like mice in all directions as we don’t recognize or even respect leadership.
All this bickering will only serve to make them despise us all the more as an unruly mob, and prove their point that theirs is the better way – that we don’t need democracy, freedom of speech, etc., but iron fisted leadership enforced with ruthlessness so that no one will dare oppose authority.
Re #29, 33,40
The maritime regimes under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that a country can claim include: territorial sea (12 nautical miles from the baseline), contiguous zone (24 nm), economic exclusive zone (200 nm), continental shelf (200 nm) and extended continental shelf (350nm).
Pepito, re #55, you are correct. The government’s response here (filing a diplomatic protest) is much better than the previous stand of just closing its eyes to Chinese intrusion.
As asserted by several participants in the discussion here, particularly Anna, filing a diplomatic protest does not mean you are going to war. You are just asserting your sovereignty and as Maj. Gen. Sabban said, “protecting the integrity of our territory.”
China as well as other countries will respect us if we respect ourselves.
There was an attempt to empirically measure western approaches to conflicts. It seems that these “templates” or rules of engagement are quite uniform, and that in a broader sense designed to “prolong conflicts” and not resolve them. We must resolve this issue on our own, in the light of relevant and pertinent considerations that will have a more sustainable long term impact for the Philippines and China (not US or Europe). At this point, it is not prudent to create conflict but to avoid one, let the diplomats do their job, all the waiting , stalling, and other nuances are part of a “glorious scheme.”
Sean Gourley on the mathematics of war
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/sean_gourley_on_the_mathematics_of_war.html
Using established UN templates, many people will subscribe to making this a full blown international incident, nothing different than “whining” in public about being treated unfairly hoping to get sympathy from everyone else.
Its time we de escalate the matter first and focus on letting our leaders resolve this matter directly with the Chinese leadership in the light of a long term and more sustainable relationship.
As I said, we cannot use “old” methods for solving “new” problems and the diplomatic books written in the past should be revisited as judging by the all the conflicts we’ve seen (past and present) there are only a handful of countries that benefit from them and not one of them the country directly involved.
The military acted accordingly already, what more do we need to do?
————————————–
“China has been consistently sticking to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, and committed to maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea. The Chinese side maintains that the related disputes should be resolved through peaceful negotiations,” Sun added.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20110305-323560/China-snubs-PH-protest
China as well as other countries will respect us if we respect ourselves.
————————-
Ellen, we don’t need to fight for respect at the moment, what we do need is to “communicate” with a neighbor and an ally that we are not a threat, that we are not an instrument of the US or the UN that passes judgment on China but are only concerned of the long term mutually beneficial relationship between our two countries. That our long term goal of being a self sufficient and productive country is a better long term partner in both our countries common goal of giving our people a better life.
One thing I learned while working with the Chinese, they are just people like us. They love their children, they have dreams, aspirations, doubts, fears, they also like to drink, look at beautiful women in bars, laugh at jokes (not all), etc….but one difference I see though, they are more focused on doing their work well and don’t dwell so much on what their government is doing, like everybody has a job to do and everybody just focus on doing the best they can and as long as you don’t do anything illegal its okay.
Demanding for them to respect us will never do, we don’t have to, we just show them that we are just as competent, sincere, honest, committed, and trustworthy in dealing with each other and that we will not undermine them and expect the same.
Hindi papayagan ng US at Global communities na magkagulo diyan sa Spratley dahil mawiwindang ang commerce. Di na makakadaan ang mga barko ng mga merchant marine. Buong mundo apektado lalo na iyung hinihintay ni Tongue na padalang balikabayan boxes sa LBC.
Sinubukan lang ni singkit na ligisin si panot kung ano ang reaction.
Kung magkabakbakan man diyan magtalaga sila ng flagman. OOOPPPSS! ceasefire muna at dadaan si Hyundai at Sealand.
Well, Pepito, yung lighthouse na na-report nung December has been there AT LEAST as early as 2007. You can check with Google Earth that the satellite photo was taken some time 2007 and the lighthouse was already there.
cocoy, nabuhay uli yung Forex sa SF, di na muna yang LBC. Airfreight para sigurado.
Tongue,re #52 the satellite photo was 2007. I don’t think there’s a lighthouse in the photo.
Our report of the building of the lighthouse refers to a recent construction. We were not able to obtain a photo for security reasons.
The use of that old photo caused some confusion but if you read the report, we were referring to a new construction.http://verafiles.org/main/focus/china-builds-lighthouse-on-phl-claimed-territory-in-spratlys/
# 40
Looking at a google map, if you draw a line from our northernmost tip to the Spratls, the Reed bank will be east (inside) of the baseline, so clearly within our waters.
@Ellen, re #54 – Did a thorough search on Google, Yahoo, Bing, Lycos. A lighthouse was built, according to People’s Daily Online, on Waikejiao (33 00.9′ N and 121 38.4′ E). Checking the coordinates, it’s in East China Sea near Jiangsu and close to South Korea.
I’m not sure if China built 2 lighthouses though. This is the Feb. 9, 2010 edition:
A quick look at Subi Reef on Google Maps now indicates 2011 as the image date but this is doubtful judging from another image which accompanied Tessa Jamandre’s article on Yahoo’s Fit to Post which shows cranes doing construction work which could be more recent.
The photo in Google Earth is still that one taken on Apr 4, 2005 – showing a concrete structure with a remote circular stage which looks like a helipad.
Until we see that photo of the “new” improvement, we can just accept Sabban’s, Batac’s and Coloma’s and Carandang’s blanket denial in the meantime.
Kung gusto mo namang kabagan kakatawa, basahin mo dito yung comment ni Carandang na Vietnam daw ang nagtayo nun, bwahahaha…prrooot…
The most comprehensive article on Spratlys and Paracels that I have come across, is in the Vietnamese version of Wikipedia.
Be sure to have a translator plugin like that in Google Chrome’s ‘cuz the text is written in Vietnamese.
http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qu%E1%BA%A7n_%C4%91%E1%BA%A3o_Tr%C6%B0%E1%BB%9Dng_Sa
You can also cut and past the whole thing to translate.google.com
wala bang plano mag protesta ang grupo ni Satur Ocampo tungkol sa isyung ito???? Estados Unidos lang ba ang kaya nilang tuligsain????
martin, binitiwan na ng China ang CPP/NPA. Magsu-supply na nga ng armas sa AFP para gamitin laban sa mga dating kakampi. Di gagawin nina Joma yun.
Para nilang inamin na ulila na sila. Mga bandido na lang ang punta niyan. Ala-Abu Sayyaf.
juggernaut – March 5, 2011 12:49 pm
The Chinese will respect our leaders if they see that their own people respect them, they will never understand how easy it is for us to trash talk our leaders and get away with it.
Aquino is no stranger to bloodshed, he has bullets still lodged in his body to prove that, unless we can do the same, its quite pretentious to talk about balls in this issue,
The best way to deal with the Chinese is to show them a united front, that we will rally behind our leaders when the country is threatened, otherwise they will just laugh at us as another rabble that run like mice in all directions as we don’t recognize or even respect leadership.
___
Im sure they will. It will take a lot more for our government to gain respect from its people. Many voted and supported Pnoy including me but many did to be able to breathe a little better after the corrupt and thieving administration of pandak.
Ala pa namang nagbabago eh. Maguindanao Massacre is still a case, a case that many ordinary people understand. It is a direct assault of government against its people being the ampatuwad representing our government in that part of our country during those times. Corruption in Military and other institution of Government is still prevalent and no one have been made to account for the plunder of our nation’s wealth. When Magdalo air their stand against corruption, they were swiftly placed in jail even after our government commits to a deal and yet they filed cases after cases just to delay and punish these people without looking into what our laws dictate. It takes an amnesty without a claim for them to be set free while these corrupt generals were accorded with many protections even knowing that they commit plunder. Some of them do not even have a case yet as of this time. How about the other known thieves in the previous government and before that? Paulit ulit. If our government is serious about Mercy, they can kick her out easy. Obvious na nga na inupuan nitong taong ito ang mga complaints, ano pa kailangan?
Our government still exports our people as laborers in many parts of the world and yet do nothing concrete to reverse this tide. Our government still prefers, behind the scene, to provide more support to oligarchs than to its people kaya walang trabaho dito. Oligarchs hoard the countries wealth thru profit and influenced governance to their favor. Everything is expensive, electricity, gas, toll fees, communication etc. owned by oligarchs and yet when you deal with government naman, puro red tape na ang laki pa ng mga fees.
Pnoy administration has a lot to prove to its people! Puro laway lang ika nga.
In my mind, many will rally behind our leaders if they are deserving of our support until then they can confront the Chinese on their own. Not meaning to be unpatriotic but why kill yourself para sa mga nag hahariharian sarili lang ang tinutulungan. Sila lang naman ang nagpapatakbo ng bansa without people involvement, circle of governance ika nga, at nakikinabang eh. Ask De Ventong maybe he knows.
If they are serious about taking care of our tax paying and law abiding citizens baka magbago. Realistically, many will try their best to depend this country from external threat but will not allow themselves to be lead by a known corrupt government officials ever. The people know. Many survived on their own without the government. Ngayon pa. Don’t get me wrong Pnoy is slowly doing some changes and deserving to be recognize for his effort. But it needs to be collective in all branches of government and my hope it is not too late.
Re# 56 Tongue “Kung gusto mo namang kabagan kakatawa, basahin mo dito yung comment ni Carandang na Vietnam daw ang nagtayo nun, bwahahaha…prrooot…Y”.
Yes, Tonque, kinabagan ako dyan sa kakatawa. How can Vietnam build structures in a Chinese-occupied territory?
I learned that the Vietnam Embassy called up Ricky Carandang and educated him on Subi Reef. It used to be occupied by Vietnam. In 1968, China attacked Vietnamese troops in Spratlys and took over Subi Reef. Eighteen Vietnamese were killed in that encounter, the bloodiest in the history of hostililties in the South China Sea.
Tongue, please check mail.
Bwahahahahahaha!!! Si Carandang napakaling bobo dela yuca. Dioskoday, e dapat kutusan ang tuktok ng tao na ito. Kaya madalas mapahamak si PNoy dahil sa mga kagaguhan ng communications men nya!
Magbasa kasi muna ng events bago ibukas ang bibig nang hindi magmukhang walang alam. O kung sadyang walang alam e itikom ang bibig!
Hindi pa ba mag-siota si Carandang at Mislang? Perpektong tambalan kasi sila. 🙂
Chi,it’s Ricky and Ces Drilon of ABS-CBN who are an item these days.
Statement of Sen. Edgardo Angara:
Last week, the Philippine Coast Guard reported that a Chinese vessel harassed a Philippine vessel conducting seismic surveys along the Reed Bank.
In naval parlance, “harassment” includes trailing, approaching or blocking of a ship by another vessel.
The Reed bank is about 80 nautical miles from mainland Palawan and within our 200 nautical miles economic zone. It is part of our continental shelf and physical territory, in accordance with the law of the sea.
In fact, as early as the 1970s, the Philippines had performed exploration work on the bank. Several gas and oil companies including a consortium composed of the Yuchengco group of companies and a Swedish mining company, had done explorations there. No protest or interference by any country in the region, much less the Chinese, were heard.
Even assuming that the Reed Bank is part of the Spratlys – which it is not — there is no reason or justification for harassing the said Philippine vessel.
The 1992 ASEAN Declaration on the South China Sea urges countries to resolve all sovereignty and jurisdictional issues by peaceful means. It called on all parties to exercise restraint, and explore the possibility of cooperation in maritime navigation, communication and operations. It was signed on July 22, 1992 by the foreign ministers of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Moreover, in 2002, China and the ASEAN signed an accord for the peaceful resolution of competing territorial claims and to freeze any steps that could spark fighting. Despite this, China has built military facilities on the islands, prompting protests from other ASEAN countries.
The Reed Bank incident last week is a clear encroachment of the rights of a friendly state by a supposedly friendly neighbor. It is a violation of our territorial integrity and sovereignty.
We have no reason to quarrel with China, nor does China have a reason to infringe on our rights. But China’s display of power – one that shows a big country strong-arming a poor country – should not be allowed to pass without strong complaint and vigorous protest.
Agree!
You stand up to a bully by getting back at him not always with the power of the fist but by employing other skills. Usually the bully then backs off.