AFP Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay distanced himself from Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin’s plan to “strongly recommend” the termination of business contracts with Chinese companies involved in China’s reported incursions in South China Sea, particularly in the features claimed by the Philippines.He said that such decisions are more properly addressed by “concerned agencies.”
Earlier, Locsin said he would consider recommending to the government the scrapping of the contracts with Chinese firms involved in their country’s island-building activities in the South China Sea. On Tuesday, the Chinese Embassy to Manila maintained that the participation of Chinese companies and individuals in local construction activities is “legitimate, lawful and beyond reproach, lies entirely within its sovereignty.”
Senator Risa Hontiveros, who also asked Gapay about China’s construction of artificial islands, said she appreciates the military official’s deference to concerned national government agencies, “but when we are talking about the militarization of the disputed islands, pumapasok na, kumbaga, pasok na sa shop ninyo, dahil kayo nga ‘yong institution na pinaka nagpo-protekta sa ating soberanya in the aspect of national defense.