Maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal warned Pag-asa Island could be the next target of China if it succeeds in taking over Ayungin Shoal.
Batongbacal made the statement during a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines on Wednesday, Aug. 9.
"If for any reason the BRP Sierra Madre collapses its likely people will be injured given the state of the ship. China will use it as an excuse to rescue our people in Ayungin Shoal and will not allow us to come back in," said Batongbacal. For the National Security Council, the government will do anything to maintain the World War II-era ship.
"It is a symbol of our sovereignty on a shoal that is located within our EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zone] and part of the Philippine continental shelf which was affirmed by the 2016 arbitral ruling," he added.
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