THE Philippines will not be a province of China as it will “continue to assert [its] sovereignty and sovereign rights,” Malacanang said on Thursday, after Metro Manila woke up to a string of tarpaulins hanging on foot bridges around Metro Manila with the text: “Welcome to the Philippines, province of China.”

“Because we continue to assert our sovereignty and sovereign rights. But we decided to move on on issues which are non-controversial because we know that the final resolution particularly on the issue of sovereignty on the disputed islands will take many years to resolve since this was not the subject of the arbitral ruling that we won two years ago,” Palace Spokesman Harry Roque Jr said in a statement, referring to the second anniversary today of case that the Philippines filed and won against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague involving the exercise of its sovereign rights over the disputed territories on the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).

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