Fil-Ams set Aug. 21 global prayer rally for peaceful end to Panatag Shoal dispute



ANDREO CALONZO, GMA NEWS 
A group of Filipino-Americans has set a global prayer rally on August 21 to call for a peaceful end to the territorial dispute between the Philippines and China over the Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal dispute.
 
Rogelio Santos, convenor of the U.S. Pinoys for Good Governance (USPGG), said 13,000 Filipinos from 175 sites around the world are expected to participate in the event, which the group called “the Global Day of Prayer for Peace in the Scarborough Shoal.”
 
“It is clear to Filipinos abroad that there is a problem, but the general attitude is that it can be solved. The main aim of this event is to pray, and more importantly, to promote solidarity on this issue among Filipinos here and abroad,” Santos said in an interview.
 
The USPGG is the same group that called for a boycott of Chinese products at the height of the Panatag Shoal dispute last June. 

The USPGG likewise said it expects delegations from the US, Canada, Europe and Australia to take part in the event from their own regions.
 
The Philippines and China have been locking horns for the past months over the ownership of the Panatag Shoal off the West Philippine Sea.
 
The Philippines uses the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) as the basis for its claim on the territory, while China relies on historical evidence.

Santos clarified that the prayer rally is not meant to further sour ties between the two countries with conflicting claims on Panatag Shoal.
 
“This is not a show of force. A show of force will be pointless. We just want Filipinos here and abroad to be involved and voice out their opinions on this issue,” he said.
 
‘Not a show of force’
 
In the Philippines, 500 political, religious and civil society leaders are expected to convene at the Rockwell Tent in Makati “to express the unified voice of the Filipino people” on the Panatag issue, according to USPGG.
 
Those expected to attend are Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, former Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros and Neric Acosta, who serves as presidential adviser for environmental protection.
 
‘Broader perspective’
 
Loida Nicolas Lewis, USPGG chairperson, said she supports the Aquino administration’s diplomatic approach to solving the territorial dispute with China.
 
“The Philippine government is just being realistic. We are a small nation, and we need to be very practical… There is a lot of leeway to talk,” she said in a press conference.
 
Bishop Chito Sanches of the Philippine Council for Evangelical Churches, an alliance of Protestant churches in the Philippines, meanwhile said his group decided to take part in the global prayer rally to “pump up awareness among Filipinos” on the Panatag Shoal dispute.
 
“We have come to a point when we have to look on this issue in a broader perspective. We have to involve all sectors of society and form a broader coalition to come together and to come as a people,” Sanches said in the same media briefing. 
 
“We need to expand our awareness of this issue. This is about the future of our children and our children’s children,” he added. - VVP, GMA News

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