Rally Against China Aggression in the Philippines' Scarborough Shoal on May 11th 2012

Speech to be delivered by the organiser of the Rally Against China Aggression in the Philippines' Scarborough Shoal to be held on May 11th 2012 at Place de l'Alma, Paris, France.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Members of the OFW Communities of France, Friends and Visitors, Members of the French Press

China has been locked in a standoff with the Republic of the Philippines right in Scarborough shoal which falls under the island territorial jurisdiction of our nation and, moreover, found right in our territorial waters or just 230kms (140 miles) from our country's main island of Luzon. China has sent 30 vessels from as far as 1,200 kilometers to the northwest with the clear intention of violating our sovereignty rights, of trampling on our territorial integrity, of poaching from our West Philippine Sea, of stealing our resources and worst of all, China has wilfull intentions of killing endangered species found in our waters for their commercial gain.

We must not forget that as recently as today, China has threatened military action against the Philippine Navy ships which have been mandated to defend our territorial integrity and to guard against any foreign invasion of the Philippines' Scarborough Shoal.

Enough is enough! We denounce the international bully that is China!

Fellow Philippine patriots, friends in France and friends from other countries in Europe, it is time to stand up to the bully that is China and to tell them that they are committing a serious crime against political decency. 

We must show them that Filipinos are not afraid to face up to bullies and to tell them to their faces that they cannot continue to intimidate us and get away with it. It is time to say to them to that they cannot, on the pretext that the sea where the Philippine western seaboard is located is called China Sea, that they can come and violate our territorial dignity.

We call on the people of China to tell their government that China's saber rattling and threats of military confrontation against our country will lose China and the Chinese all the international goodwill that their country has tried to establish these last 30 years. 

We ask the good people of China to tell their government that China cannot violate the territorial integrity of a neighbour with their military might and believe that the civilised world will turn a blind eye! It will be wrong to underestimate the determination of the Filipino people to defend their country in the face of overt aggression by a giant bully! Sirs, history has shown that we are a peaceful, kind, hardworking, smiling people but no matter the odds, when the sanctity of our sovereignty is threatened, we shall stand up fiercely and defend our country!

We, the members of the Overseas Filipino Workers community in France, are prepared to defend our nation's dignity in the face of any military aggression; and towards this end, we support the actions of our president, His Excellency President Benigno Aquino III in the arduous and dangerous task of dealing with pugilist China.

We must call the attention of citizens of this free world to the fact that in International Law, the acquisition of territories by violence or military actions, the hijacking of another nation's sovereignty rights, the stealing of another country's resources, the poaching and the killing of that country's endangered species -- these actions are not only regarded as illegal, they are also considered criminal in the eyes of the free world.

We therefore ask China to align with the civilised world and to do things according to International Law. We ask China, member of the powerful UN Security Council to stand by the tenet of fairness and equity. 

We ask China to cease and desist and to leave our territorial waters immediately; to settle their issues with our country in the Court of Law. We ask China to withdraw from their ambitious plans of invading Scarborough Shoal because, Scarborough Shoal belongs to us.

We call on the Filipinos all over the world, on our friends in Europe, in the United States, in North America, in Asia, in the Middle East, in Africa, in South America and everywhere else to vigorously denounce China's aggression against the Republic of the Philippines. 

We call on the Filipinos all over the world, on our friends in France and everywhere else in Europe and around the world to tell their governments that no people, no nation, no government should allow China to brazenly defy International Law and invade, violate, intimidate us Filipinos in our own territorial waters. 

We call on the United Nations Security Council to order China to leave our territorial waters here and now and to vacate our country's Scarborough Shoal. 

We call on members of the United Nations to tell China to live by the tenet of the United Nations of upholding peace and justice in the world.

CHINA, STOP VIOLATING OUR SOVEREIGNTY RIGHTS
CHINA, STOP AGGRESSING US IN OUR COUNTRY'S SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
CHINA, STOP POACHING FROM OUR TERRITORIAL WATERS
CHINA, STOP KILLING THE ENDANGERED SPECIES IN THE PHILIPPINE SCARBOROUGH SHOAL
CHINA, STOP STEALING OUR RESOURCES

CHINA, LEAVE THE PHILIPPINES' SCARBOROUGH SHOAL NOW!!!