MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said China has no business telling the Philippines that advanced weaponry fired during the just-concluded "Balikatan" drills are a threat to peace and stability in the region.
Teodoro: China should mind its own affairs
Teodoro said China should refrain from commenting on what the Philippines and its allies should and should not do with their lawful military exercises.
"I mean, anong pakialam nila? Pakialaman nila sarili nilang bakuran. Eh pakialaman sila ng pakialam, ‘yung kanilang sariling bakuran, lalo na yung panunupil sa kanilang mga kababayan, hindi nila tinitigilan. Ito, distraction din sa mga kababayan nila, sa mga problema nila (What do they care? They should mind their own business. They keep on meddling when they do not address their own affairs, including the oppression of their own people. These types of accusations are meant to distract their fellow countrymen from their own problems)," he told the media during a chance interview after the closing ceremonies at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
China's claims of destabilization
China claimed the recent firing of the US Tomahawk land attack missile and Japanese Type 88 surface-to-ship missile systems constituted a threat to the region's peace and stability.
The Tomahawk was fired from Tacloban and reached its target in Laur, Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija early morning of May 5. The Type 88 anti-ship missile was utilized May 6, sinking a decommissioned Philippine Navy corvette, BRP Quezon (PS-70), off Paoay, Ilocos Norte.
What is destabilizing, Teodoro said, are China's oppressive actions in the West Philippine Sea and other areas.
