Furious At China's Actions, The Philippines Is Ready To Send Warships To The South China Sea

Philippine warship fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Mark R. Alvarez)

JAKARTA - Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte stressed that his party is ready to send warships to the South China Sea, to defend territorial claims, as well as claims of existing oil and mineral resources in the region.

Duterte's statement was issued because Manila was frustrated with China's actions in the South China Sea. This step was taken as well as answering the criticism directed at him.

Critics say Duterte is soft on Beijing and is reluctant to push the Bamboo Curtain country to comply with arbitration decisions. Duterte emphasized that the public should not hesitate in his assertiveness regarding the rights and sovereignty of the Philippines in the South China Sea.

"I'm not that interested right now in fishing. I don't think there are enough fish to argue with. But when we start mining, when we start getting whatever is in the bowels of the South China Sea, our oil, at that point I'll send my grey ship (warship) there to make a claim," Duterte said in a public speech late Monday evening local time, as reported by Reuters, Tuesday, April 20.

"If they start drilling for oil there, I will tell China, is that part of our deal? If it is not part of our deal, I will also drill for oil there," he said, although he said he wanted to remain friends with Beijing.

Philippine President Duterte is known to have sought to build an alliance with China and has been reluctant to face his leadership, as promised billions of dollars in loans and investments, largely untapped, frustrated nationalists.

Previously, Duterte had repeatedly said the Philippines was powerless to stop China and said challenging China's activities posed the risk of war being lost to his country.

He added that there was no way for the Philippines to enforce a 2016 arbitration decision that clarified the Philippines' sovereign rights in its exclusive economic zone, without bloodshed.

The Chinese Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Previously, the Philippines also sent fighter jets to shadow hundreds of ships belonging to China.

China's activities in the South China Sea have drawn criticism from various countries. In fact, the United States and Germany plan to hold joint warship patrols in the region.

To note, the Philippines has filed several diplomatic protests against China's actions in the South China Sea, with the most recent accusing China of illegal fishing and deploying more than 240 vessels in its territorial waters.