Malacañang yesterday expressed “serious concern” over the landing of long-range Chinese bombers on one of the man-made islands in the South China Sea but clarified it does not see the deployment as an immediate threat to the Philippines. “Even if we don’t feel that China is a security threat to us, for as long as there are weapons there, there could be mistakes in the discharge of these weapons and any threat of the use of force in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes, which happens also to be the sea lane where our oil supply passes through and bulk of our exports and imports pass through, is a reason for concern to us,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a press briefing. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said meanwhile it is taking an “appropriate” but unspecified “diplomatic action” to protect the country’s sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea but did not mention China or the latter’s deployment of heavy bombers.

Romero, A., Lee-Brago, P., & Villanueva, R. (2018, May 22). Palace 'seriously concerned' over China bombers. The Philippine Star, p. 2.