Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Monday said that China’s threat to go war against the Philippines should not be taken lightly, and must be brought to the United Nations arbitral tribunal.

“We should stand up to China. We should not allow our country to be bullied and threatened,” he said in a statement.

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Last week, President Rodrigo Duterte said that Chinese President Xi Jinping threatened him of going to war if the Philippines would insist on the arbitration ruling and extract oil and gas in the West Philippine Sea.

READ: PH urged to take China war threat to UN

“The Philippine government should immediately elevate the threat that the Chinese President allegedly issued against the Philippines over the West Philippines Sea to the United Nations,” Drilon said.

He added that the warning was “a gross violation of the UN Charter,” that states that “all members shall refrain in their institutional relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the purpose of the United Nations.”

Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio also suggested that the Philippines should bring China’s threat to another UNCLOS (UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) arbitral tribunal.

He said the President has a “constitutional duty” to use all legal means to protect the country’s territory. Frances Mangosing/JE

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