Top Philippine envoy says China reading too much in drill snub
THE Philippines鈥 top envoy on Thursday invoked the country鈥檚 arbitral award in a sea dispute with China, and said Beijing was 鈥渞eading too much鈥 into Manila’s refusal to join military exercises in the South China Sea.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro L. Locsin, Jr. said the country had been 鈥渃onsistent and clear鈥 in its stand on the sea dispute.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e reading too much into a simple directive,鈥 Mr. Locsin told China鈥檚 Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin.
He issued the remark after Mr. Wang said Beijing welcomed President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s order prohibiting the Philippine Navy from joining the exercises.
鈥淲e appreciate President Duterte’s remarks and stand ready to properly resolve maritime disputes with the Philippines through friendly consultations to jointly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea and the entire region,鈥 Mr. Wang was quoted in a China Global Television Network news.
鈥淭he Philippine position has been 鈥榗onsistent and clear.鈥 What is ours is ours under the arbitral award and no one else can tell us differently,鈥 Mr. Locsin said.
Also on Thursday, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said 11 Filipino seamen who jumped off a ship after an explosion in Beirut have been found.
鈥淥ur Embassy in Beirut has ascertained the conditions of all 13 Filipino seafarers who were injured in the blast that rocked the city,鈥 Foreign Affairs Under Secretary Sarah Lou Y. Arriola said in a statement.
Charge d鈥檃ffaires Ajeet Panemanglor visited eight of the seafarers, who stayed at their company accommodations. The other five were at the hospital for check-ups.
The embassy said it was still looking for a Filipina housekeeper who also went missing after the blast. 鈥淪he has not been located,鈥 Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Eduardo Martin R. Me帽ez said in a mobile phone message.
The explosion occurred at a port warehouse that stored 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, a substance used for fertilizers and explosives, according to reports.
It killed at least 135 people, including two Filipinos who were both in their employers鈥 home when the blast occurred.
About 32,000 Filipinos are in Lebanon, down from 33,000 in December after some of them came home amid a global coronavirus pandemic. 鈥 Charmaine A. Tadalan
