(Eagle News) — Senator Kiko Pangilinan on Friday, Feb. 1, likened Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo to a “Chinese puppet” following his statement the Philippines should thank China if it was indeed building a maritime center on the disputed Kagitingan Reef.
“Secretary Panelo strikes again,” Pangilinan said.
According to Pangilinan, Panelo was the same official who said it was alright for the Chinese to fish in Spratlys waters.
Pangilinan said it was also Panelo who called the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that validated the Philippines’ claims on the disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea as “useless as there is no country or body on earth that can enforce” it against China.
“One would wonder sometimes which country he was speaking for. His every tone clearly manifests the language of a Chinese puppet,” Pangilinan said.
Pangilinan then went on to endorse opposition senators, who he said “have taken and will continue to take the side of the Filipino people, especially those directly affected by the encroachment of the Chinese into our waters, keeping Filipino fishermen from their source of livelihood.”