Luistro wants ‘peaceful avenue’ in addressing conflict with China amid concerns on ambassador

MANILA — Batangas 2nd District Representative Gerville Luistro said on Tuesday they are advocating for a “peaceful avenue” to address the conflict with China, but clarified that utterances like those recently made by Chinese Ambassador Jing Quan should be given attention.

Luistro also stressed that there should be respect from foreign envoys. 

A recent statement from the Chinese embassy dared the Philippines to stop bluffing and “just do it” in reference to potentially declaring Jing persona non grata.

“I share the sentiment and opinion of the senators. We should not be victims of bullying in our own land. Victims nga tayo ng violence in our own territory– in the West Philippine Sea– magiging victims pa rin tayo ng bully ng envoy na naririto sa sarili nating territory,” Luistro said in a press conference.

“We are advocating a peaceful avenue of addressing the conflict with China. But nevertheless, utterances like this must be addressed by the Philippine government… We deserve the respect of the foreign envoys,” Luistro added.

Over at the Senate, multiple resolutions have been filed seeking to declare the Chinese ambassador persona non grata due to allegedly hostile remarks. 

Meanwhile, Bicol Saro party-list Representative Terry Ridon appealed to the president to take action against those operating the Chinese Embassy’s social media accounts and cast them out, instead of the ambassador. 

Ridon accused those postings of appearing “trigger-happy” in publishing online content.

“Despite ‘yun pong pagkakaroon po ng pag-uusap kahapon, ‘yun pong social media account ng Chinese Embassy, tuluy-tuloy pa rin po sa pag-atake sa atin pong pamahalaan, sa atin pong mga opisyal hanggang sa araw po na ito,” Ridon said.

“So ang apela namin ay hindi ho palayasin ‘yun pong Chinese ambassador. Ang apela namin at this point, option ng ating pong pangulo, palayasin po ‘yung mga lesser diplomats—particularly ito pong nag-o-operate po ng social media account ng Chinese Embassy sa Facebook, which incidentally is banned in China. Hindi ba nakakatawa ‘yun?” he added

“Parang trigger-happy sila mag-post dito dahil banned ‘to sa China, hindi ho ba?”

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Monday summoned Jing to formally protest his remarks. 

Manila 3rd District Representative Joel Chua meanwhile believes resolving the matter should be left to the DFA. 

“Napakahirap ng sitwasyon ng ating pangulo dahil bagamat may mga nasabi ang Chinese ambassador, pero kinakailangang balansehin ng ating pangulo ang relasyon sa ibang bansa… Siguro dapat ay hayaan natin na ang embahada or ‘yung ating Department of Foreign Affairs ang gumawa ng paraan para itong mga problemang ito ay maresolba,” Chua said.