FILIPINO youth and civic groups warned Monday against a repeat of China’s transformation of Panganiban Reef into an artificial island and military outpost, saying similar developments should not be allowed at Bajo de Masinloc, Ayungin Shoal and other Philippine-claimed maritime features.
The groups issued the warning during a lightning rally outside the Chinese Embassy in Makati City on National Heroes Day, organized by the Filipinos Do Not Yield (FDNY) Movement amid continuing tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
FDNY media officer Mateo Tiongco said Panganiban Reef was a cautionary example of how China had transformed a maritime feature into an artificial island and military outpost.
Tiongco said Filipinos should not allow a similar development to happen at other maritime features within the Philippines’ maritime entitlements.
The rally also condemned what the groups described as China’s continued presence, harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels in the West Philippine Sea, particularly around Bajo de Masinloc and Ayungin Shoal.
The protesters called for the continued assertion of Philippine maritime rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) and the 2016 arbitral ruling on the South China Sea.
Tiongco said the use of force could not alter the Philippines’ legal rights in the West Philippine Sea.
“Force does not create sovereignty,” he said. “We may be drenched, harassed and intimidated, but we will not be subdued.”
