A party-list lawmaker yesterday aired grave concern over China’s possible access to the country’s first and only communications satellite following its continued military aggression in the disputed Spratly group of islands.

Even without firing a shot, Ang Kasangga party-list Rep. Teodorico Haresco said, the People’s Republic of China can cripple the country as it does not only depend on China’s consumer goods but also on security-laden services, including the Philippines’ telecommunications system.

Haresco called on the government to start looking for options with the seeming security threats in the use of Agila 2, the country’s lone communications satellite.

“I think that this conflict over the Spratly islands should be taken into consideration as we try to look for Agila 2’s  replacement,” said Haresco.

Agila 2, also also known as Mabuhay 1, is the country’s only working communications satellite and is a product of a joint  venture of Mabuhay Satellite Corporation and various companies from China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

These include the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, High Rise Realty Development Corporation, Pilipino Telephone Corp. (Piltel), Beijing High Den Enterprises Limited, Walden Group of Companies, GMA Network, Inc., Philippine Satellite Corporation, Cable Entertainment Corporation, Siy Yap Group, and Philippine Communications Satellite Corporation.

While the satellite’s control station is located at the MPSC Space Center in the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Haresco said the technology that was used to build the satellite is basically a product of PROC which has some serious security disputes with the Philippines because of the Spratly claims.

And with its access to the country’s only communications satellite, he said that the PROC can easily cripple the country’s communication system without even the need to fire a single missile.

“While I’m confident that this saber-rattling and muscle-flexing of the PROC will not escalate into a shooting war, I really have some worries with regard to our present ties with them especially in relation to our communications assets,” said Haresco.

He said that Agila 2 which was launched in 1997 is expected to be taken out of service by 2012 as its lifespan is expected to last for only 15 years.