RP 'can't afford' Spratlys clash

RP 'can't afford' Spratlys clash

MANILA (AFP): Philippines Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado
accused China on Tuesday of bullying his country by expanding a
structure on a reef in the disputed Spratly islands but President
Joseph Estrada said Manila could not afford to be
confrontational.

"We should be more diplomatic and we'll do it (settle the
issue) through negotiations. Let us not be confrontational
because we know we can't afford it," Estrada said, in an apparent
reference to the notoriously weak Philippine military.

Mercado said China was taking advantage of this weakness to
establish a military presence and presented aerial photographs
showing how China had expanded the structures on Mischief Reef.

"It is an act of bullying. It is because they know we do not
have the capability to resist at this time," he said. "The
obvious reason they are doing this to us is because they know we
are weak," Mercado told a press conference where he presented
photographs taken on Oct. 29 and Nov. 5.