THE Philippine government has yet to verify on its own China's reported missile installations on at least three of its artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea (West Philippine Sea), Malacañang said Monday, May 7.
"We still don't have verification," Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said, when sought for update on the Duterte administration's plan to vet the news article about China's alleged deployment of missile weapons in its outposts in the South China Sea.
Roque made the statement in a press conference Monday, two days after he announced that the government would not "completely rely" on a media report, with regard to China's supposed missile deployments.
In the past 30 days, China reportedly deployed anti-ship cruise missiles and surface-to-air missiles on Fiery Cross (Kagitingan) Reef, Subi (Zamora) Reef, and Mischief (Panganiban) reef in the Spratly Islands, according to a May 2 article of CNBC.
The CNBC noted that China's YJ-12B anti-ship cruise missile can strike surface vessels within 295 nautical miles of the artificial islands, while its long-range surface-to-air missile can target aircraft, drones, and cruise missiles within 160 nautical miles.
Roque said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. had informed him that an equipment that would be used to allow the government to have its "own capacity to verify" CNBC's report has yet to be delivered in Manila.
"I understand that we could get information from third-party sources but that would not be the first-party verification," the Palace official said. "I had a talk with the National Security Adviser and he told me that there's a technology that we need, (but) we still don't have to be able to verify it for ourselves."
Despite the recent development, Roque believed that there was no betrayal of trust on China's part, stressing that the installation of missile weapons was not covered by Beijing's earlier promise not to reclaim new islands in the busy waterway.
"No, (it's not a betrayal of trust). I don't know why it's even betrayal of trust. Why it's betrayal of trust?" the presidential spokesman said.
"Is this a new construction which is a breach of China's promise? A promise was as far as new reclamation or new artificial islands are concerned," he added.
Tension in the South China Sea has continued to escalate, as China aggressively backs its sweeping claims to the disputed waters by improving its military facilities on its artificial islands.
China has also persistently refused to acknowledge the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration's July 12, 2016 ruling, which states that Beijing has baseless argument to assert sovereign rights over the disputed waters.
Roque maintained that for now, the Duterte government would continue to avoid a confrontation with China, as the Philippines intends to keep its "very good" ties with Beijing.
"We are viewing this with much concern because any possible scenario that would encourage military action, in our backyard, in our exclusive economic zone, and in the one of the busiest sea lanes in the world is troublesome," he said.
"But you can't ignore the fact that because of very good relations, we can be confident that China as a country does not view us a threat. And there is no reason why assuming they have missiles that they can use, they will use it on us." (VoxPop Philippines)
