PH eyes seeking compensation from China for damaged vessels

CNN Philippines

The Philippines eyes seeking compensation from China after its supply vessels were damaged by the Chinese coast guard's aggressive actions in the West Philippine Sea.  Manila also dares Beijing to show proof of a supposed deal to remove its grounded navy ship from Ayungin Shoal.  Tristan Nodalo reports.  Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/  Follow our social media pages:  • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/ • Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines

Transcript

00:00 The Philippine government has summoned Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Wang Silian

00:04 on Monday as part of the country's series of diplomatic actions over the latest Chinese

00:09 aggressions in the West Philippine Sea.

00:11 It was DFA Undersecretary Teresa Lazaro who faced the Chinese envoy.

00:16 To convey the strong protest of the Philippine government against the back-to-back aggressive

00:21 and harassing actions undertaken by Chinese forces against Philippine vessels in the West

00:27 Philippine Sea over the weekend.

00:29 The DFA also condemns China's repeated use of water cannon during the resupply mission

00:34 in Ayungin Shoal.

00:35 DFA Undersecretary Maria Teresa P. Lazaro verbally delivered the protest against the

00:41 Chinese dangerous maneuvers that led to collusion, illegal shadowing and undue use of water cannons

00:49 against the rotation and resupply mission undertaken by the Philippines in Ayungin Shoal

00:55 for the Philippine government detachment in the PRP Sierra Madre.

01:00 But China remains consistent in justifying their actions in the West Philippine Sea.

01:04 In a statement, the Chinese Embassy says they too are protesting Manila's incursion into

01:09 their territory.

01:10 Beijing also urges the Philippines to go back to the negotiating table and peacefully resolve

01:15 disputes over the West Philippine Sea, especially the reason for the escalation of tensions

01:20 in the area.

01:21 The responsibility for the emergencies and waters of Ranaidjao lies completely with the

01:27 Philippine side.

01:29 The root cause is that the Philippines has refused to tow away the illegally grounded

01:32 warship and attempted to permanently occupy Ranaidjao.

01:35 But the National Security Council says this argument is nothing new if even there's China

01:41 to show proof.

01:42 Since the Chinese foreign ministry has not been able to produce any document to support

01:48 this so-called promise, we urge them to finally abandon this argument and abandon, as I said,

01:55 this figment of the imagination.

01:57 The National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea is just waiting for the go signal before

02:01 it presents to President Bongbong Marcos a new strategy on how to deal with the dispute.

02:06 We've been developing this strategy for several months now, but we just recently concluded

02:13 it.

02:14 This is one of the hardest things to develop because there's so many inputs coming from

02:18 different government agencies and there's a lot of balancing that has to be done.

02:23 Another option for the Philippine government is to seek damages from China over the use

02:28 of water cannons on Philippine vessels.

02:31 But this will be up to the hands of the Justice Department and the Office of Solicitor General.

02:36 Tristan Udalo, CNN Philippines.

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