QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) — Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to fulfill what he said was his constitutional duty to defend the territory of the Philippines by sending the Philippine Navy to Scarborough Shoal.
The Shoal is where China is allegedly building environmental monitoring stations.
“Send the Philippine Navy to patrol Scarborough Shoal. If the Chinese attack Philippine Navy vessels, then invoke the Philippine-United States Mutual Defense Treaty which covers any armed attack on Philippine navy vessels operating in the South China Sea,” Carpio said.
He made the statement after President Duterte said on Sunday, before leaving for an official visit in Myanmar, that it cannot stop China from building monitoring stations in Panatag Shoal.
According to Carpio, President Duterte should send a strongly-worded protest against the Chinese construction activities in the area.
“This is the least that the President should do. This is what the Vietnamese did recently when China sent cruise tours to the disputed Paracels,” Carpio said.
He also advised the President to avoid any statement that may imply that the country had waived its sovereignty on any Philippine territory in the West Philippine Sea.
“This will preserve for future generations of Filipinos their national patrimony in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
Eagle News Service
