Manila legislators to visit Spratlys

Manila legislators to visit Spratlys

MANILA (UPI): Philippine senators have decided to visit the disputed Spratly Islands to check into alleged Chinese build-up on a reef claimed by the country, reports said yesterday.

Senator Blas Ople said members of the Senate's committees on foreign affairs and defense would inspect Mischief Reef to verify reports Chinese soldiers have fortified their shelters at the area.

Manila discovered Chinese structures on the reef early last year, triggering a bitter row between the two countries. Navy photos show the facilities, which looked like water tanks with doors, resting on stilts and equipped with disc-shaped antennae.

Ople has invited top government officials, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon and Defense Secretary Renato De Villa, to join the legislators' trip.