MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines should be “thankful” to China if it indeed built a maritime rescue center on the Philippine-claimed Kagitingan Reef in the West Philippine Sea, Malacañang said Thursday. ADVERTISEMENTREAD: China opens maritime rescue base in West Philippine Sea“I share the sentiment of Secretary Delfin Lorenzana that could help seamen in distress in that area. But does Malacañang believe China will only use it as a maritime rescue center? Panelo answered: “We’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.”ADVERTISEMENTHe said the government would file a diplomatic protest if the rescue center would serve another purpose. The Chinese state-run Xinhua earlier reported that China has built a maritime rescue center in the Kagiting Reef, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer January 31, 2019 06:01 UTC