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.