Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, August 16) – Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to include water cannon use and laser pointing in the list of “non-conventional threats” that could invoke the country’s Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) with the United States.
“Hindi ba pwede natin idagdag diyan ‘yung… water cannon? he said. \” Alam natin it does not constitute armed attack, pero ‘yung epekto niya sa ating mga Coast Guard na tatamaan, pag natamaan Coast Guard natin dun natumba, nahampas yung ulo sa sahig ng barko, patay pa rin yun.\”
[Translation: Can’t we add water cannon to that? We know it does not constitute an armed attack, but how about our Coast Guards who will be hit. When a Coast Guard is hit and he fell and hit his head on the floor of the ship, he’s dead.]
“Yung laser attack… kung pwede isama natin,\” Dela Rosa added. \”So that China will run out of ideas and unconventional tactics to bully our people.\”
[Translation: The laser attack…if possible let’s include thatt. So China will run out of ideas and unconventional tactics to bully our people.]
DFA Assistant Secretary Jose Victor Chan Gonzaga, meanwhile, said they are still seeking clarity from their American counterparts on what constitutes ‘non-conventional’ threats.
“That appears in the bilateral guidelines, but I think there is still a lot of discussion with the specific kinds of activities that would be coming under that,” Gonzaga said in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Senator Imee Marcos, chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations, said she also believed the use of water cannon can be considered a threat.
READ: AFP chief: China’s use of water cannon on PH boats ‘short of declaring war’
“The operative word is threat,\” she said. \”Clearly, the water cannons were a threat of some sort. Whether classified as conventional or non-conventional.\”
The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) earlier said water cannons can only be used for disasters at sea, such as dousing fire.
Dela Rosa also urged the DFA to assert anything and everything that can put the country at an advantage.
