(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, July 28, proposed the conduct of regular Coast Guard patrols off Batanes to ensure “those islands will remain ours.”
The President made the proposal in his visit to the northernmost province, following earthquakes that killed at least eight people and injured several others.
“But there are two islands there that are big ones. Sabi ko kay Mayor, is it ours? I do not see any… Pumunta ka siguro lagyan mo ng ano sort of a symbolic… Sayang eh. Agawan ngayon eh,” the President said.
Duterte also backed the proposal for the runway extension in a Batanes airport “for national security reasons.”
He said the runway could be a “crucial factor in the days to come.”
“It would be good to be prepared so that if we have to defend those islands there, you have to have a launching deck somewhere here,” he said.
China has made expansive claims on the South China Sea, but a ruling made by the Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidated the Asian giant’s nine-dash line that supposedly delineated what is theirs.
The Philippines has so far set aside the ruling in its favor, with the President saying there was a need to make a “balancing act” to ensure that violence will not break out.