MALACAÑANG reiterated that the Philippines remains committed to the peaceful resolution of the dispute in the West Philippines Sea saying that the President’s statements on US spy planes monitoring the borders was taken out of context.
It was reported that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had released a statement asking the Philippine government not to issue more provocative statements that would raise tensions.
The Chinese officials are referring to the statement of the President Benigno S. Aquino III about a possible assistance of the US through the use of American spy planes in the West Philippine Sea to monitor the country’s borders.
Secretary Ramon Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office (PCDSPO) said during a press briefing in Malacanang on Tuesday that the Chief Executive was just responding to specific questions during an interview by Thomson Reuters this week.
One of the questions was whether or not the Philippines would approve flyovers by the US surveillance planes called Orions, and whether or not the government had approved flyovers to monitor the Philippine territory, he said.
“The President said that was one of the options. Remember that we have a responsibility to monitor our territory to make sure that there are no incursions for one reason or another and our capabilities are rather limited,” Carandang said.
“The President was responding in the context of saying that it’s one of the options being considered to enable us to enhance our ability to monitor our territory. Now, he reiterated that there have been no decisions and that the primary responsibility belongs to the Philippine government.”
And if the Philippine government authorizes surveillance flights using US spy planes, they are not meant to be provocative, Carandang noted, adding that it was in reference to the monitoring of Philippine territory.
“There’s no offensive capability here. So this should not be viewed as a provocative statement,” he added.
Carandang also explained that any US spy plane flyover in the West Philippine Sea wouldn’t require a treaty or agreement with the US because there are existing military agreements with the American government.
The Palace official also hopes that the recent spat between the People’s Republic of China and the Philippines will be resolved soon as the two countries continues to talk through diplomatic channels. (pcoo
