West PH Sea advocates hold motorcade as Chinese envoy bids farewell

Atin Ito motorcade. PHOTO FROM ATIN ITO

MANILA, Philippines — West Philippine Sea advocates staged a motorcade near the venue of a Chinese Embassy event marking the ruling communist party’s founding anniversary concurrent with the farewell call of longest-serving Beijing’s envoy to Manila.

Civil society coalition Atin Ito organized a motorcade on Thursday near the Shangri-La Hotel in Bonifacio Global City where the embassy hosted its event.

READ: Marcos to outgoing Chinese envoy: We will miss you

However, authorities prevented the motorcade from proceeding around the venue and held participants along 5th Avenue.

“As China marks its national day, we extend our greetings to the Chinese people while affirming that no celebration can overshadow the truth of our sovereignty,” Atin Ito said in a statement on Friday.

“The West Philippine Sea is a living account of our nationhood, sustenance, and bravery. It belongs to the Filipino people,” the group, which conducted civilian maritime missions in the West Philippine Sea thrice, also said.

The group condemned Beijing’s continued harassment of Filipino fisherfolk, as well as its latest attempt to establish a so-called “national nature reserve” at Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal.

Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea but the landmark international ruling effectively dismissed this in favor of Manila’s sovereign rights.

The embassy’s National Day also served as the farewell reception to Huang Xilian, the longest-serving Chinese ambassador to the Philippines after completing a five-year and ten-month term.

Huang, in a statement during his farewell call to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Thursday, expressed hopes that Manila and Beijing’s relations “will get back on the right track at an early date.”

For his part, Commodore Jay Tarriela, Philippine Coast Guard spokesperson to the West Philippine Sea, said Huang’s term, which spanned two presidential terms, was marked by “bold diplomatic maneuvering.”

“From my perspective, Huang’s ambassadorship coincided with a surge in confrontations in the West Philippine Sea, drawing widespread criticism for stoking rather than extinguishing the flames of discord,” Tarriela said in a statement on Thursday.

“In essence, while Huang masterfully articulated China’s unlawful and aggressive stance, his efforts undeniably amplified strains from Manila’s viewpoint, yielding no meaningful resolutions to the maritime disputes,” he added. /jpv