By Audrey Morallo
MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine government should invoke the arbitral ruling on the South China Sea in filing a protest against a reported Chinese plan to build a radar station in Panatag Shoal, according to a senator allied with President Rodrigo Duterte.
In making his call, Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian also called on the government to rethink its “hands-off” approach to the issue, noting that the Philippines has many options at its disposal.
Gatchalian said the Duterte administration should use the South China Sea arbitration ruling as a potent tool to counter China's supposed plan to install a radar station in Panatag, a traditional fishing ground in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone that China has controlled since 2012.
China's foreign ministry on Wednesday denied it is building an environmental monitoring station on Panatag, which Beijing calls Huangyan.
The Associated Press quoted foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying as saying: "That does not exist at all."
The arbitration ruling, handed down in July 2016, invalidated much of China’s expansive claims over the region which is also claimed in part by several countries in Southeast Asia and by Taiwan.
Read the full story at PhilStar