Kinumpirma ni Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana na maghahain ng reklamo ang Pilipinas laban sa China dahil sa ginagawa nitong militarisasyon sa West Philippine Sea.
Inakusahan ni Lorenzana ang Beijing sa pagtraydor at hindi pagtupad sa usapan na walang gagawing militarisasyon sa mga manmade islands.
Aniya, nangako raw ang Beijing na hindi sila magsasagawa ng construction activities lalo kung ang itatayong facilities ay gagamitin ng Chinese military.
Batay sa report, ongoing ang construction para sa isang air base ng China sa may Kagitingan Reef.
Ayon kay Lorenzana ang ihahain nilang reklamo ay kanilang isusumite sa Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA).
“Our stand is we will continue to establish register our protest through the Department of Foreign Affairs because I know for a fact that sometime ago the Chinese gov’t said that they are not going to militarize those reclaimed islands. Remember those were not islands before those were just reefs but they are now islands. But according to them they are not militarizing and it was for peaceful purposes only like tourism. But if it is true and we can prove that they have been putting soldiers and any weapons defensive otherwise that would be a violation of what they said,” pahayag pa ni Lorenzana.
