The reckless and irresponsible behavior of the Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) personnel had all the force of shame and lost of self-respect, Wennie Sancho, Negros West PH Sea Advocacy lead convenor said in a press statement.
“The barbaric actions of the CCG tends to remind us of their forebear, the infamous Chinese pirate and warlord Li-Ma-Hung, who attempted but failed to invade the northern Philippines in 1574,” he said.
The CCG were acting like pirates and buccaneer marauders without any semblance of discipline. They were like a pack of wolves trying to encircle our outnumbered AFP personnel. This unprecedented display of arrogance by the CCG is an offense to our national pride as a people, Sancho said.
Negros WPS Advocacy is urging the government to be firm in its policy direction rather than restrict itself to laments and complaints without taking concrete actions. How long shall we accept this humiliation? he asked.
“Allowing these conditions to be forced upon us, which threatens our existence, without having fought to the uttermost could lead to our destruction,” he added.
Is our Motherland worth dying for? The Filipino is not a coward. He loves freedom but puts the highest premium on human life and dignity. We believe that the Filipino people will respond to the call of greatness not by coercion but by persuasion, not by intimidation but through the ways of freedom, Sancho said in the press release.
The late former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. declared that “The Filipino is worth dying for.” And if Ninoy, the man thought that we, in our weakness, were worth dying for, perhaps we can make ourselves even more worthy by having a bit more of his courage, his vision and his determination in resolving this greatest challenge in our history, to assert our sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea, he said.
The CCG with bladed weapons were acting more like pirates than coast guards, Sancho said.
Sancho supported the statement of Gen. Romeo Brawner that the CCG committed acts of piracy in the WPS. Piracy on the high seas or in the Philippine waters refers to acts of robbery, violence, detention, or plunder. It is a forceful deprivation on the high seas without lawful authority, in the spirit of universal hostility. Piracy is a crime against the Law of the Nation. Piracy could also occur in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) like what is happening now in the WPS.*
