By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA — China asked the Philippines to thoroughly investigate reports that the three men arrested over a foiled attempt to bomb the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 were also planning to attack the Chinese Embassy in Manila, among other areas.
The Chinese Embassy said in a statement that it hopes the Philippines will take effective measures to secure China’s embassy and staff, as well as all Chinese nationals living in the country.
“According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the host country is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of diplomatic missions against any intrusion or damage and prevent any attack on diplomatic staff,” it said.
Detained on Monday, the three suspects planned a series of attacks apparently to publicize their anti-China grievances. Seized from their van were petrol bombs and firecrackers.
They also claimed to be defenders of the Filipinos and considered China and the Filipino-Chinese oligarch’s monopolistic business practices and illegal mining as enemies.
They appeared to be particularly angry at the Philippines’ “soft” stance toward China in its territorial claims in the South China Sea.
The suspects also planned to firebomb the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City and strafe the DMCI building.
SM Mall of Asia is owned by Henry Sy, the Philippines’ richest man who was born in China. DMCI, on the other hand, is a construction firm owned by David Consunji, another ethnic Chinese-Filipino whom Forbes magazine lists as the country’s sixth richest man.
Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said it is poised to send a note verbale to the Chinese embassy to let them know about the Philippine government’s position on the issue.
“I think very soon we will be able to send the note verbale to the Chinese Embassy to officially inform them about what happened,” DFA spokesperson Charles Jose said in an ambush interview Tuesday.
“While they read the newspapers, it is entirely different when the information comes from the government. So they can report it to Beijing that the information really came from the DFA, which is more official,” he said.
He said the National Bureau of Investigation is already investigating the case.
“We are not really concerned about this because this is only an isolated case. Those involved are some misguided people,” said Jose.
As far as the DFA is concerned, he said this is the end of the case since the plot has already been uncovered, “if this is indeed a plot.”/PN
