Partido Reporma chairman and presidential standard bearer senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson raised the Philippine flags in Pag-asa Island, West Philippine Sea on Saturday, November 20 amid Chinese actions against Philippine vessels.
Lacson made a scheduled visit to Pag-asa Island, the second largest island in the Spratlys archipelago, that falls within the EEZ or Exclusive Economic Zone of the Philippines by virtue of Republic Act 9522 of 2009 or An Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Seas of the Philippines and as defined by UNCLOS or the UN Convention on the Law of the Seas.
Pag-asa Island lies under the administrative center of the town of Kalayaan, Palawan, which is home to a small community of 193 civilian Filipinos based on the 2020 census.
Lacson left mainland Palawan at around 8 in the morning boarding a private plane going to Pag-asa where he planted Philippine flags as a symbol of commitment to defend the Philippine sovereignty.
As the incumbent chairman of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, Lacson was briefed by the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Western Command (WesCom) on the status of the Pag-asa Island amid maritime disputes between China and Philippines, according to a statement from Partido Reporma.
“The visit is also part of his ongoing serious commitment to study the matter as one of the presidential aspirants seeking to lead the country in the next six years”, the statement read.
Lacson was accompanied by Partido Reporma president and former House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, secretary-general and Davao del Norte Gov. Edwin Jubahib.
Spokesperson Ashley Acedillo, former Interior Secretary and National Unity Party chairman Ronaldo Puno and former Philippine National Police chief and senatorial aspirant Guillermo Eleazar also joined the trip.
Back in the 2016 national elections, during his campaign for presidency, Rodrigo Duterte made a controversial remark that he would go to the West Philippine Sea on a jet ski to plant a Philippine flag and assert the country’s right in the disputed Spratlys. However, Duterte later denied that statement and reiterated that it was only a “pure campaign joke” and not a campaign promise.
