PNoy: Stronger military needed to defend Spratlys

(Updated 10:34 p.m.) President Benigno Aquino III said boosting the military’s capabilities will strengthen the country’s posture in territorial disputes with some of its Asian neighbors. “Sa paglinang sa kapasidad ng ating militar, hindi na tayo basta-bastang mabubulyawan ng ibang bayan sa oras ng mga di-pagkakaunawaan tulad ng salungatan sa West Philippine Sea," Aquino said in his speech during the 57th anniversary of the Court of Tax Appeals on Thursday. Chinese officials recently said that the Philippines has made “irresponsible claims" over the Spratly islands. Manila accused Beijing of intrusions into its territory, citing six instances, including one in March when two Chinese patrol boats tried to ram a ship carrying a Philippine survey team. Aquino said the government can improve the military’s capability if the government manages to generate enough funds through revenue collections. “Kapakinabangan ang maaaring maidulot nito para sa pagpapaunlad sa kakayahan ng ating Sandatahang Lakas," the President added. Markers dismantled Earlier this month, the Philippine Navy (PN) dismantled some markers placed on a reef close to the Spratly Islands. On June 5, local fishermen reported to the Navy their sighting of the markers. Just three days before, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) protested “the increasing presence and activities of Chinese vessels including naval assets in the West Philippine Sea." "We are very concerned about these markers being placed in waters and areas and features that are clearly ours," Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told reporters on Thursday while visiting Canberra to meet his Australian counterpart. PN spokesman Lt. Col. Omar Tonsay said there will be a regularly scheduled joint naval exercise with the United States Navy this June 28 to July 8 within the Sulu Sea, near Palawan. Tonsay said two US Navy destroyers will take part in the exercises. Meanwhile, China has sent one of its biggest civilian maritime patrol ships into the South China Sea to protect its "rights and sovereignty," state media said on Thursday. The Haixun 31 of the Chinese Maritime Safety Administration left south China on Wednesday and will head for Singapore, passing near the Paracel and Spratly island groups at the heart of the territorial dispute among Brunei, China, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. "Our country's biggest maritime patrol ship patrols the South China Sea," said the headline in the official Beijing Daily. Aquino’s Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the Armed Forces of the Philippines will monitor the Chinese ship if and when it sails into the West Philippine Sea. Chinese ship’s mission The Haixun 31 would monitor shipping, carry out surveying, inspect oil wells and "protect maritime security," the paper said — steps that could lead to confrontation with other countries pressing claims in the sea. The ship was also tasked to carry out inspections of foreign vessels anchored or operating in waters claimed by China. It is one of China's most advanced maritime patrol vessels, weighing in with a displacement of 3,000 tons. Haixun 31 has a helicopter pad and can stay at sea for 40 days traveling at 18 knots, the Beijing Daily said. "Obviously, China cannot again sit back and watch and allow other countries to treat their seizure of the South China Sea's oil and gas resources as an established fact," said the International Herald Leader, a Chinese weekly newspaper. China has accused Vietnam of violating its claim to the Spratlys and nearby seas, which Vietnam also deems its own. China calls the islands the Nansha group. China’s claim is by far the largest, forming a vast U-shape over most of the sea’s 648,000 square miles (1.7 million square km), including the Spratly and Paracel island groups. Beijing said last week it would hold naval drills in June in the western Pacific Ocean and the Chinese navy has done little to disguise plans to launch its first aircraft carrier. This week, Beijing warned outside countries not to step into the dispute, after Vietnam said other countries, including the United States, could help defuse the tension. The Haixun 31 is due to reach Singapore June 23 after a journey of 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) and will go back to China after a six-day stay, said the Beijing Daily. — With Reuters/Earl Rosero/MRT/VS/HS, GMA News