DFA eyes ‘appropriate action’ vs China over Sandy Cay

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is considering taking “appropriate action” against China after it erroneously claimed that it has seized Sandy Cay, a tiny sandbank near Pagasa Island where a Philippine military facility is located.

- By RAYMUND ANTONIO

Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the High-Level Conference of Middle-Income Countries (HLC-MICs) at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City on Monday, April 28, DFA Secretary Enrique Manalo disclosed that they are closely monitoring the situation to come up with a plan.

“We're considering appropriate action, if needed, on this but we’ll be consulting, of course, the various agencies,” he said. “Nothing at the moment but certainly, it’s a possibility and we’re considering all these options.”

The DFA chief added that “we are looking at developments like these” amid a commitment to the 2002 Declaration on the Code of Conduct (DOC) in the South China Sea and recent negotiations on finalizing a Code of Conduct (COC) on the South China Sea by next year.

“So, we hope countries can, at least, minimize or refrain from taking actions such as this but we're closely monitoring it and trying to see exactly what the plans are with respect to that,” Manalo said.