(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated his stand he was “not prepared to go to war” amid criticisms the Philippines was not doing enough to protect its claims in the South China Sea. “We just don’t have the capability..,” the President said in a speech at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command Headquarters at Camp Lapu-Lapu in Cebu City on May 1, Tuesday. According to Duterte, in the first place, America should […]
Tag: Scarborough Shoal
Duterte: PHL to deal with China “in friendly, civilized terms” in South China Sea dispute
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte reiterated the country will deal with China only through diplomacy. He said before Chinese-Filipino businessmen on Monday, February 19, during an anniversary celebration of the Chinese Filipino Business Club, Inc. (CFBCI) at the Manila Hotel that the country will insist on its sovereign rights over its claims in the West Philippine Sea but in “friendly and civilized terms.” “We cannot go there ride in our, whatever, navy, grey ships, […]
China says US warship ‘violated’ its sovereignty
Beijing said it has dispatched a warship to drive away a US missile destroyer which had “violated” its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea. The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name. Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 […]
Filipino fishermen balik-Scarborough Shoal na
(Eagle News) – Balik Panatag Shoal ang mga mangingisdang Pilipino sa kabila ng mga namataang Chinese Vessel sa paligid ng lugar na bahagi ng pinag-aagawang Spratly Islands. Ito ang inihayag ng Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) sa unang anibersaryo ng tagumpay ng Pilipinas laban sa China matapos ang paborableng desisyon ng International Court of Arbitration sa territorial dispute sa West Philippine Sea. Ayon kay Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, naniniwala si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte […]
President Duterte says he trusts China will not build on disputed shoal
(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte said that China had informed him they were not building anything on a disputed shoal in the South China Sea out of their new friendship, and he is confident that China will “not touch” the disputed shoal. Duterte’s remark came amid a comment by a mayor in charge of China-controlled disputed islands and reefs last week that preparatory work was being planned to build several monitoring stations, including […]
Justice Carpio to President Duterte: Send the Navy to Scarborough Shoal
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 […]
AFP still has no plan to send ships to Scarborough shoal
MANILA, Philippines (Eagle News) — The Armed Forces of the Philippines has no plan to send patrol ships to Scarborough Shoal, according to its spokesman. AFP Spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said that the Armed Forces is still in a “monitoring” mode and will not send any of its ships to the area. The AFP also noted that Chinese authorities are not stopping Filipinos from fishing in the area. “The AFP welcomes the recent development […]
China ships still at disputed shoal, fishermen back: Manila
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Chinese coastguard ships are still patrolling the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea but are not stopping Filipinos from fishing there, a Philippine defence spokesman said Sunday. The information — from fishermen who have just returned from the shoal — came despite earlier Philippine government statements that the Chinese had left the outcrop they seized in 2012. A spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte had said Saturday there were no […]
Chinese vessels leave disputed shoal: Philippine official
MANILA, Philippines AFP | — Chinese vessels have left the contested Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, a Philippine official said Saturday, less than a week after President Rodrigo Duterte visited Beijing pledging closer ties. The firebrand leader used the trip to vaunt his move away from traditional ally the United States in favour of Beijing — which was previously at loggerheads with Manila over the maritime dispute. China took control of the […]
Q&A on Scarborough Shoal, a flashpoint in Asia
by Karl MALAKUNAS VIENTIANE, Laos (AFP) — The Philippines said China Wednesday of secretly preparing to build an artificial island on Scarborough Shoal, a tiny and remote outpost in a contested area of the South China Sea. Doing so risks a military confrontation between China and the United States. Here are five key questions and answers about the shoal and why it is so important. What is it? A small ring of reefs that lie […]
US to give Philippines military planes: govt
MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — The United States is giving the Philippines two used military aircraft, the coast guard said Wednesday, to help Manila expand sea patrols in the face of territorial disputes with China. The two Sherpa 30-seater aircraft will be delivered in December, Philippine coast guard spokesman Commander Armand Balilo told AFP. “It will help us in the movements of the Philippine Coast Guard like patrol missions,” Balilo added. The announcement came days after […]
Ahead of summit, Philippines shows images of Chinese boats at disputed shoal
(REUTERS) The Philippines’ defense ministry released pictures on Wednesday showing what it said were Chinese boats near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, just hours before Southeast Asian nations were due to meet China’s premier at a summit in Laos. There was no explanation for the timing of the release, but it came two days after Manila expressed “grave concern” about the increasing number of Chinese vessels around the Scarborough Shoal and […]





