MANILA – (11:31PM)  Several hundred Filipino and Vietnamese protesters united in a march on Friday, demanding that China stop oil drilling in disputed South China Sea waters, as a Filipino lawmaker revealed Hanoi officials were mulling over filing a separate case against China – similar to what Manila filed in 2013 – over their maritime row.

Filipino riot police blocked the entrance to a high-rise building that houses the Chinese consulate in the Makati financial district as around 200 protesters marched on the office.

The street action came after deadly riots in Vietnam that Hanoi said were triggered by China’s deployment of a deep-sea oil rig in a part of the South China Sea.

The protesters, some wearing green cardboard cut-outs of turtle shells, carried placards that read “Vietnam-Philippines join hands to kick off China”, “China Stop Bullying Vietnam and the Philippines” and “We Support Vietnam”.

As Vietnamese activists expressed solidarity with Filipinos protesting China’s creeping expansion in their territory, a party-list lawmaker revealed Hanoi was considering following in Manila’s footsteps in filing a separate case against China before a UN arbitral tribunal.

Read more: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/86969/pinoys-vietnamese-join-anti-china-street-protest