By Roy Ramos
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
The Philippines has responded with some humor to China's accusations that it and Vietnam are also building airstrips and other infrastructure on disputed islands in the South China Sea.
"We can't even fix Manila airport, so why in Spratlys?" Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Charles Jose told the country's ANC TV channel on Thursday.
The Spratlys are a coveted group of mostly barren islands, reefs and atolls in the South China Sea to which China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have laid claim.
They are believed to be sitting on top of oil and natural gas deposits and straddle the world's most-traversed sea-lanes.
The Philippines refers to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.
In recent months, China appears to have been asserting its territorial claims, which has brought it into standoffs with its neighbors.
On Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei alleged the Philippines and Vietnam had been building airports and other infrastructures in the Spratlys - an allegation that was quickly denied in Manila.
China is just trying to deflect international criticism about its "massive reclamation activities" in the Sea, said Jose.
He stressed that the Philippines already has an existing airport in Pagasa Island, which the country only intends to repair.
“One thing that we have to determine are the dates when these [reclamation activities] have taken place,” he added.
He noted that the country’s existing facilities were around before the 2002 Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea.
The document, though non-binding, was signed by parties including China to “enhance favorable conditions for a peaceful and durable solution of differences and disputes among countries concerned.”
“Anything you do after that is already a violation,” Jose said referring to China
Aerial photos appear to show massive reclamation by China in the disputed islands, which has led to a chorus of objection from its neighbors and the U.S. to make references to China's “great wall of sand”.
The Philippines military chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang has said tensions among claimant countries could likely flare with continued Chinese reclamation activities.
Last week, Filipino fishermen claimed that Chinese Coast Guard patrolmen had driven them out of the region's Scarborough Shoal with water cannon, while a boat captain has said that armed Chinese coast guards had boarded boats and confiscated catch.
“One of them pointed a long gun at me,” Valeriano Quimson, 40, told the state-run Philippines News Agency.
He said that the water cannon destroyed generators and other appliances.
"Our cellphones and clothes were left floating in the water,” he added.
