MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday said he was ready to send his military ships into the South China Sea to make a claim on oil and mineral resources in the disputed part of the strategic waterway. .
While some critics complain that Duterte has softened by forcing Beijing to comply with an arbitration award, he said the public can be assured that he will assert the country’s claims on resources such as oil and minerals in the South China Sea.
‘I’m not that much interested in fishing right now. I do not think there are enough fish to quarrel about. “If we start mining, when we start getting our oil in the bowels of the Chinese Sea, by that time I will be sending my gray ships there to make a claim,” Duterte said in a public speech late last night.
“If they start drilling oil there, I will tell China, is it part of our agreement? If it is not part of our agreement, I will also drill oil there,” he said, reiterating that he was friends with Beijing. want to stay. .
Duterte tried to build an alliance with China and was reluctant to confront his leadership, promising billions of dollars in loans and investments, many of which had yet to materialize, which frustrated nationalists.
He has repeatedly said that the Philippines is powerless to stop China, and that the challenge of its activities could be a war that will lose its country.
The fire-eater leader said there was no way for the Philippines to enforce a “decisive arbitrary ruling” of 2016 that would enlighten the Philippines’ sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone.
The Chinese embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Philippines has filed several diplomatic protests against China’s actions in the South China Sea, with the latest accusing its giant neighbor of massaging illegal fishing and more than 240 boats in its territorial waters.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by David Gregorio)