President Marcos on Wednesday said he was horrified by the idea of a “gentleman’s agreement” with China regarding the country’s territorial waters.
“I am horrified by the idea that we have compromised—through a secret agreement —the territory, the sovereignty, and the sovereign rights of the Filipinos,” Mr. Marcos said in an ambush interview in San Juan.
He said the administration has no idea of the alleged agreement between former President Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the West Philippine Sea.
“We don’t know if it’s a secret agreement. We don’t know anything about it. There is no documentation, there is no record, there is no—we were not briefed when I came into office. No one even told us that there was such an agreement,” Mr. Marcos said.
Earlier, Duterte’s former chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo denied the existence of any “gentleman’s agreement.”
Panelo squarely contradicted the statement of Duterte’s former spokesperson, Harry Roque, that a verbal deal was reached between the two leaders to maintain the status quo in Ayungin Shoal.
“There’s no such animal,” Panelo said. “This is what President Duterte said: ‘I did not enter into any gentleman’s agreement whatsoever.’”
However, in a Facebook post, Roque shot back at those who seemed to have forgotten the “gentleman’s agreement to maintain the status quo on the West Philippine Sea.”
“For those who have forgotten, now you know,” Roque wrote in his caption to a link to a Reuters story, “Philippines says China agrees on no new expansion in South China Sea.”
But Panelo said Duterte told him twice that no such deal existed. He said the former President even raised the arbitral ruling to Xi during his first visit to China in 2016.
This developed as the top US military officer in the Pacific on Tuesday said Washington was “very, very concerned” about Beijing’s recent “dangerous” actions in the disputed South China Sea, after confrontations with Philippine vessels.
Speaking in Sydney, United States Indo-Pacific Command head Admiral John Aquilino referenced recent encounters between Chinese and Philippine boats around a remote shoal in the Spratly Islands.
“I’m very concerned about what’s happening at the Second Thomas Shoal”, said Aquilino. “I’m very, very concerned about the direction it’s going.”
Asked if he has a plan to talk with his predecessor, the Chief Executive said his administration has been discussing the matter with former officials.
“We’re talking to his former officials. Maybe not the president himself but all his former officials, we are asking them what that (agreement) is,” he said.
Mr. Marcos, however, said he has not received a straight answer from former officials.
“We’re trying to clear it up to now because from the former administration, we’re getting different answers,” the President said.
The President vowed to clear things up with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian.
“We still have to clear it up. We’re waiting for Ambassador Huang to come back from Beijing…and I’ll ask to see him perhaps when I return (from Washington),” he said.
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines, has led a chorus of support for the Southeast Asian country in response to China’s actions.
Aquilino said Tuesday that China’s “unilateral” actions were “dangerous, illegal and they are destabilizing the region”.
“What’s next and how far are they willing to go in that area?” he said.
Meanwhile, Senator Francis Tolentino said he favors the Philippines’ conduct of regular joint patrol with Australia, Japan and the United States.
The chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Maritime and Admiralty Zones said this following the recent multilateral maritime cooperative activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
According to Tolentino, the regular joint patrol is tantamount to commitment for the defense and security cooperation among allied countries.
However, he rejected speculations that China will become angrier with the regular joint patrol in the disputed territorial waters.
Tolentino believes this activity will push for regional security and cooperation and is confident that joint patrols will pave the way not to limit the country’s military exercises in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas (UNCLOS).
“This will signal the strengthening of alliances of like-minded countries,” he said.
“We were surprised with the reaction of Xi. He said, ‘Do not force that because if you force it, there will be trouble.’ We were shocked,” Panelo said.
“The President responded that if we cannot come to an agreement, let us at least have peace,” he said.
Panelo said he is willing to attend a Senate inquiry into the gentleman’s deal disclosed by Roque if he is asked to.
“If I am called to testify, why not?” Panelo said. With AFP