By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
A high-ranking official in the Philippines armed forces has said that if it came to it the country could defend itself in a dispute in the South China Sea.
The claim comes despite a defense report issued last week that shows the country lagging behind other claimants in a maritime dispute in the area.
"Amid rising maritime tensions in the South China Sea, the AFP [armed forces of the Philippines] can defend the country if the need arises," Colonel Noel Detoyato, AFP public affairs chief, told GMA News Online. "Yes we can. That is our mandate."
Detoyato's statement came soon after Japan's Ministry of Defense presented a report titled "China's Activities in the South China Sea," which showed the Philippines lagging behind China, Vietnam and Malaysia in terms of naval and air force capabilities.
The Philippines refers to the South China Sea as the West Philippine Sea.
According to the report, among the four countries the Philippines has the least number of warships with only 80, while China has 892, Malaysia has 208, and Vietnam has 94.
Among the four nations, the Philippines was the only one with no submarines.
The report also revealed that China towers over the three other claimants with 2,582 aircraft. The Philippines has 26, Vietnam has 97 and Malaysia has 71.
GMA News reported AFP spokesperson Col. Restituto Padilla as thanking the Japanese government "for taking special interest in the evolving security situation in the [South China Sea]."
Padilla said it is reassuring for us to know that there is increasing awareness and concern among those in our region on this subject.
"This increasing awareness hopefully elevates all these issues affecting the [South China Sea] to a level where it can initiate collective action that will assure freedom of navigation, security of the commons and a more stable security environment for the peace loving nations of SEA," it quoted Padilla as saying.
China claims almost the whole of the potentially oil and mineral-rich sea, but several other Asian nations -- including the Philippines and Vietnam -- have also laid claim.
China’s efforts in the seawaters have been drawing criticism from countries with overlapping claims who consider the moves to be “aggressive”.
China uses the so-called “nine-dash line” on the map to assert ownership of almost the entire sea, while the Philippines refers to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea as basis for its claim.
Earlier this month, the Philippines formally presented its case against China before an international tribunal at The Hague, arguing that Beijing has no right to exercise what it refers to as "historic rights" over areas of the sea.
