(Eagle News) — Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday, April 5, volunteered to join President Rodrigo Duterte if the chief executive decides to visit Pag-asa Island.
Lacson made the comment after Duterte said he would not allow the Chinese to occupy the island in the South China Sea but also reiterated the country was not ready to go to war.
Hours before, the Department of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement over the “illegal” presence of Chinese vessels near the island, and urged the Chinese government to “exercise self-restraint with respect to activities in the South China Sea that would complicate or escalate disputes and affect peace and stability, as agreed upon by both nations in last year’s state visit of President Xi Jinping to the Philippines.
“I volunteer to join him in my capacity as an elected senator of the republic and as a freedom-loving Filipino,” Lacson said.
In a Tweet, he also cited lines from the Philippine national anthem, and gave a message to President Duterte.
“Mr President: Barangay Pag-asa, Municipality of Kalayaan, Province of Palawan, Mimaropa ( Region IVB), Republic of the Philippines—,” he said in the Tweet.