PHL senator urges govt to help flood-devastated China

Despite the tension between the Philippines and China over the disputed Spratly Islands, Sen. Ralph Recto on Thursday urged Malacañang to consider sending humanitarian assistance to China after floods ravaged its southwestern and southern provinces. In a statement, Recto said the government should use this as an opportunity to show Beijing that despite the dispute over the Spratly Islands, the Philippines is doing its role as a good Asian neighbor. “After more than a week of saber rattling with China, we should take a pause by rushing to the side of a neighbor in need, which may be regarded as powerful but still not exempt from natural devastation like us," he said. “The Chinese people would appreciate this act not as a mere pa-pogi stunt but as a sincere gesture from a neighbor which has also its own share of natural calamities, like the deadly Ondoy-induced floods," he added. Last week, more than 555,000 people were evacuated in seven provinces and a municipality in China after rains in recently drought-stricken areas caused floods and mudslides in the Yangtze River basin. Recto said the Philippine government can ask the local Red Cross units to coordinate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council (NDRRC) and Philippine National Police (PNP) to send a composite team to China. The senator admitted that the Philippine team may "hardly make a dent" in China's rehabilitation efforts but that mere presence of Filipinos trying to help Chinese communities should be worth "a thousand Philippine patrol boats in Spratly waters." “Aside from my proposal to engage China economically instead of militarily over the Spratlys issue, we now have an opportunity to open a new door of engagement which is humanitarian and relief effort," he said. Recto noted, however, that the government should also not lose focus on the rescue and relief operations in flood-affected communities in Mindanao. Aside from the Philippines and China, four other economies are claiming ownership of the Spratlys – Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan. - Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK, GMA News