PHL not building structures in disputed West Philippine Sea — DND

This handout photo taken on March 17, 2015 by satellite imagery provider DigitalGlobe and released to AFP by the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative department at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSSI) think tank shows a satellite image of vessels purportedly dredging sand at Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands in the disputed South China Sea. The series of satellite images posted on the website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies last week show a flotilla of Chinese vessels dredging sand onto Mischief Reef and the resulting land spreading in size. Beijing on April 9 reaffirmed its right to build on the disputed islands after the satellite imagery emerged of construction operations turning tropical reefs into concrete artificial islands. The Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all have overlapping claims in the area. (AFP Photo / CSIS Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative / DigitalGlobe)

MANILA — The Department of National Defense (DND) on Wednesday denied reports made by China claiming that the Philippines is building structures on disputed islets and features at the West Philippine Sea.

“If there is one thing we are certain of, we know that they are very good at concocting stories and misleading statements,” DND spokesperson Dr. Peter Paul Galvez said.

He added that the Philippines is not engaged in any construction or reclamation projects in any of its territories at the West Philippine Sea.

“They are saying too many things that now they are confused. What they should do is to stop all activities in (the) West Philippine Sea reclamation, dismantle structures and apologize to the international community for the massive environmental degradation they committed.

The DND spokesperson also stressed that the Philippines is not provoking China.

“They are the ones provoking and dragging peace focused nations into this tense situation. All other nations have been dealing with this in a peaceful, diplomatic and rules based manner,” he added.

Earlier, the DND said that the Philippines strongly complies with the Declaration of the Code of Conduct between China and ASEAN which was signed in 2002.

Under the agreement, signatories are prohibited from constructing new facilities in the disputed areas and exercise self restraint.