MANILA (Reuters) – Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said on Monday that he was ready to send his military ships to the South China Sea to “play a claim” on oil and mineral resources in the disputed part of the strategic waterway.
With some critics complaining, Duterte was reluctant to refuse to push Beijing to comply with an arbitration ruling, he said the public can be assured that it will assert the country’s claims to resources such as oil and minerals in the South China Sea.
“I am not so interested in fishing now. I don’t think there are enough fish to argue with. But when we start to own mine, when we start to get whatever is in the bowels of the China Sea, our oil, until then I will send my gray ships there to make a request, “Duterte said in a public address later.
“If they start drilling oil there, I will tell China, is it part of our agreement? If this is not part of our agreement, I will drill oil there as well,” he said, reiterating that he wanted to stay friend of Beijing.
Duterte sought to build an alliance with China and was reluctant to confront his leadership, promising billions of dollars in loans and investments, many of which have not yet materialized, frustrating nationalists.
He has repeatedly said that the Philippines has been powerless to stop China and that the provocation of its activities could risk a war that his country will lose.
The leading leader said there was no way for the Philippines to apply a “bloodless” arbitration ruling in 2016, which clarified the sovereign rights of the Philippines 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, the latest accusing its neighboring giant of illegal fishing and massaging more than 240 boats in its territorial waters.
(Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by David Gregorio)