00:00President Bongbong Marcos is adamant that the Philippines will not send a Navy warship
00:07despite the new harassments of China.
00:10He said that on the anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
00:15which is one of the foundations of the Philippines in the unification of territory and sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
00:21Ivan Mayrena was in touch.
00:23Last week, new incidents of aggressive action were reported by China
00:31inside the exclusive economic zone of the Philippines.
00:34From the approach of the Chinese helicopter to the Filipino fishermen in Rosul Reef or Iroquois.
00:41Dangerous fishing, boating and water cannon pass to the ships of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources or BFAR.
00:49And last but not least, the new incident of laser to the ships of BFAR.
00:53According to the Philippine Coast Guard,
00:56previously, the ships of China were only used for the Coast Guard or Militia Vessels in harassment.
01:01Now, it's Chinese Navy warships.
01:03And it's up to the President if he will face the ships of the Philippine Navy.
01:12The President's answer, despite the harassment,
01:15the Philippines will not send a Navy warship to the West Philippine Sea.
01:19We are not at war. We don't need Navy warships.
01:22All we are doing is resupplying our fishermen, protecting our territorial rights.
01:28Again, it will be provocative and will be seen as an escalation.
01:34We don't do that. The Philippines does not escalate tensions.
01:38Quite the opposite. The Philippines always tries to bring down the level of tension.
01:44Just a week ago, the National Task Force of the West Philippine Sea said
01:48that the Philippine Navy may also deploy the warships of the Philippines
01:52to accompany the resupply missions of BFAR and PCG to the Philippine fishermen.
01:57But the President said,
01:59nothing will change in the discarding of the country from the West Philippine Sea.
02:02And the country will never be a part of the escalation of tensions in the region.
02:07The President's statement coincides with the 42nd anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,
02:12which is considered to be the law of the sea,
02:15far from violating rights and avoiding tensions between countries.
02:20This is also one of the foundations of the Philippines in its territorial and sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
02:26As it upholds its lawful claim to its maritime entitlements,
02:30the Philippines has continued to engage coastal neighbors
02:33through discussions on the delimitation of the Exclusive Economic Zone,
02:37the Continental Shelf,
02:39and the Extended Continental Shelf measured from lawfully drawn baselines
02:43where these maritime zones may overlap.
02:47For GMA Integrated News, I'm Ivan Mejrini for 24 Hours.
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