MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Risa Hontiveros urged Malacañang to summon Chinese Ambassador to Manila Huang Xilian over China’s plan to construct a nature reserve at the contested Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc.
The senator on Friday said the Philippine government should demand an end to any plans of constructing a so-called “marine nature reserve” in Bajo de Masinloc.
“This is a desperate attempt to cement illegal occupation in Philippine territory,” Hontiveros said in a statement.
She said that Bajo de Masinloc was Philippine territory, “legally, historically, and morally.”
“The 2016 arbitral ruling under UNCLOS affirmed our rights within our Exclusive Economic Zone. No amount of dredging, building, or bullying can erase this fact,” Hontiveros stressed. UNCLOS is the United Nations Law of the Sea.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in July 2016 invalidated China’s expansive claim in the South China Sea which encroached on the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
