DFA defends forwarding of Scarborough photos

The Philippine government's decision to forward to China photographs of seized dynamite and corals is normal diplomatic procedure and should not be interpreted as an act of a vassal state, Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said yesterday.

Siazon said ambassador to Beijing Romualdo Ong will deliver to ambassador Fu Ying, and not to the Chinese foreign ministry, evidence of Chinese intrusion in Philippine waters.

The delivery would be done in Beijing because Fu is in China for a 45-day leave of absence, he added.

"The department hopes the level of rhetoric in the Scarborough Shoal area can be reduced," he said. "It wishes to assure all concerned that Philippine diplomacy will continue to energetically but quietly push for the peaceful resolution of conflicting claims in that zone."

Earlier, Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera chided Siazon and the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for their "political genuflection" in explaining to the Chinese foreign ministry the Navy's action against poachers off Scarborough Shoal.

"I don't see why we have to order our ambassador to China to deliver photographs of Chinese violations of the status quo in the South China Sea, like some vassal making representations before a feudal lord."

Herrera said the DFA should have summoned Fu to explain the incident off Scarborough involving the Navy and the Chinese intruders.

Siazon announced earlier the government will send to China photographs of dynamite and corals seized recently from Chinese fishing boats.

In yesterday's clarification, he pointed out that the practice of instructing one's envoy to respond to a host country's request for a meeting on a contentious issue and to present one's side are part of normal diplomatic relations.

"This is what realpolitik is all about," he said. "Foreign policy is never undertaken in a vacuum since the alternatives available to each country are shaped by both external forces as well as the strengths and weaknesses of individual nations."

He said the submission of evidence would buttress the Philippine claim that the Chinese fishermen had illegally taken corals that are protected under Philippine laws and international conventions.

"It is far from constituting an act of a vassal bowing and bringing gifts to a feudal lord," he said.

Herrera also criticized Siazon for saying that Chinese fishermen caught poaching in Philippine waters would not be arrested to avoid tension between the Philippines and China.

"That is really stupid," he said. "Foreigners encroaching in Philippine territory should be apprehended and dealt with accordingly."

However, Siazon explained that the DFA had appealed for leniency for Filipino fishermen who have been arrested in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Palau.

Foreigners found illegally fishing in Philippine waters have been arrested, but the government was faced with the problem of feeding and housing them, he added.