Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 22) – Philippine Ambassador to the United States Jose Manuel ‘Babe’ Romualdez maintained that foreign powers cannot dictate how the country should act in the West Philippine Sea.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reportedly told his counterpart Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo that Philippine-China relations are at a crossroads and that Manila should “act with caution” when it comes to its decisions in the West Philippine Sea.
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“We are a sovereign country and we will decide what is best for ourselves. No one can tell us what to do,” said Romualdez in an interview with CNN Philippines.
The envoy said that Philippine-U.S. relations remain strong amid these pronouncements by China.
“Whatever their statement is, the fact of the matter is we have a good relationship with the United States,” he added. “We had a relationship for a very long time and that’s the reason why we have the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT).”
Romualdez also rejected Beijing’s claim that the Philippines is acting in collusion with foreign powers to heighten tensions in the West Philippine Sea.
“Ang importanteng itanong natin who is doing what [The important question is: who is doing what]? All these aggressive moves continue to take place. Whether they claim we have stronger relationship with the US or not, they are still doing the same thing,” Romualdez added.
The envoy said that the support of like-minded countries in the West Philippine Sea is “proof’ that Manila is on the right track.
“A lot of other countries are saying that what is being done to us is not according to international law and like-minded states call this type of behavior as unacceptable,” added Romualdez.
