(Eagle News) — Senator Grace Poe on Thursday described as mere “wishful thinking” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque’s statement China will one day return the islands the Philippines is claiming in the South China Sea.
“The West Philippine Sea will freeze over first before China will even begin toying with the idea of giving us back those islands,” Poe said in a statement.
According to Poe, “wishful thinking is like saying that a homeowner may soon be thankful to a gang of fully armed men who unlawfully intruded into his place for sometime and made it their safe house, which in effect prevented other criminals from ransacking the same.”
“And this comes with false hopes that the gang members will decide to give the house back, if they have not yet transferred the title under their name,” she said.
On Wednesday, Roque said there would “come a time, when China’s might had ceased, when we will have to thank them for the islands because it is only the Philippines that can legally build on those artificial islands.”
He said the islands will be ours “if we can ask China to leave.”