Opposition
Senator Risa Hontiveros is surely taking advantage of the enhanced community
quarantine (ECQ) period as a way to make her advocacies known to the public by
various press releases.
Hontiveros,
just demanded from the Chinese government compensation for all the expenses the
country is spending in battling the novel coronavirus 2019 disease or COVID-19
which originated from Wuhan, China and the reparation for the annual losses the
country is incurring due to damaged reef ecosystems in the West Philippine Sea
caused by the Asian giant.
“China
should foot the Philippines’ COVID-19 bill. The destruction to our reefs in
Scarborough Shoal and Spratly Islands is equivalent to at least PhP 33.1
billion in losses annually, on top of other economic and health costs. This
money is past due and could go to government’s efforts in fighting the
pandemic,” Hontiveros said, citing the breakdown of costs stated by the
University of the Philippines’ Marine Science Institute.
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| (photo credit to owner) |
“China
has been damaging our ecosystems for over 6 years now, which means our losses
could already amount to over 200 billion pesos. This money could be used to
fund our health and economic plans as we transition to a new normal,” the
Senator said, she is referring to the report by the Asia-Pacific Maritime
Security Strategy which states that China began reclaiming land in the West
Philippine Sea in December 2013.
The
opposition senator took note of the fact that while the rest of thw world is
busy with the coronavirus, China has continued with its invasive activities in
the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“The
government already has a huge budget deficit because of COVID-19. China’s
ongoing disregard for our own resources will worsen our economic standing. The
government should demand what is rightfully ours and use this to help the
Filipino people battle COVID-19,” she said.
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Report from ABS-CBN News
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