21 March 2017

News Story: Duterte on Panatag - We cannot stop China from doing its thing

By Rosette Adel

MANILA, Philippines— President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday said that the Philippines cannot stop China from building a reported monitoring station in Scarborough (Panatag) Shoal in the South China Sea.

“We cannot stop China from doing its thing. Hindi nga napara ng Amerikano ,” Duterte said in his departure speech before his Myanmar visit.

Duterte recalled that former Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay already asked him what to do about Beijing’s move to build facilities in the disputed sea. He said he can declare war to counter it, but the country will lose more than just the claim of sovereignty over parts of the disputed area that Manila claims.

“What do you want me to do? Sir… ano ba’ng gawin ko? Declare war against China? I can, but we’ll lose all our military and policemen tomorrow and we are a destroyed nation,” Duterte said.

“And we cannot assert even a single sentence of any provision that we signed,” he added.

Read the full story at PhilStar