MANILA – Malacañang on Monday said the Philippines has not lost territory to China since President Rodrigo Duterte opted to use bilateral approach to settle the West Philippine Sea (WPS) dispute five years ago.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque made this comment after Vice President Leni Robredo urged the government to employ a multilateral approach, claiming bilateral talks with China is not enough to protect the country’s interest in the WPS.
“The President po is the lone architect of foreign policy. Hindi po totoo na hindi gumagana ang ating bilateral approach to the West Philippine Sea kasi matapos po ang halos limang taong termino ng Presidente, wala po tayong nawalang teritoryo sa Tsina, wala po tayong hidwaan sa Tsina (It is not true that our bilateral approach to the West Philippine Sea is not working because after five years of the President’s term, we have not lost territory to China, we have no conflict with China). So, I beg to disagree, the President’s policy has been working for the past five years,” Roque said in a virtual Palace press briefing.
On July 12, 2016, the Philippines won its petition against China before the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands, after the court invalidated Beijing’s nine-dash line map which covers nearly the entire South China Sea.
China has repeatedly ignored the 2016 PCA ruling, while the Philippines has sought to resolve the sea dispute through a diplomatic approach.
Roque said Duterte might pursue his present policy on the WPS in his remaining year in office after former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile concurred that the President is pursuing the right approach on the territorial dispute.
Duterte, he said, toyed with the idea of convening the National Security Council (NSC) and of meeting former presidents of the country to discuss the WPS dispute.
“But itong (this) possibility na ito was before Senator JPE shared his views on the WPS. Pero mukha namang (But it seems) after JPE concurred that the President is pursuing the right policy on the West Philippine Sea, eh wala naman pong urgency na pag-usapan itong bagay na ito (there is no urgency to discuss this thing), either with the National Security Council or with the former presidents ‘no. So this is not a done deal po. It was something that President was speculating on, before JPE fully concurred with his policy on the WPS,” Roque said.
In a special meeting with Enrile on May 18, Duterte said he was convinced that he would rather not “waste his time” explaining his decision to navigate the maritime row “peacefully” to avoid trouble with China.
“Maybe I will just ignore my critics. I would just say well, after talking to Senator Enrile, you guys have become irrelevant to me,” Duterte said.
Enrile agreed with Duterte, adding that the President is not responsible to any specific person for his foreign policy.
“Mr. President, critics you'll always have. If I were you, I'll not mind them. Just mind history, the Filipino people,” Enrile said.
Duterte expressed gratitude upon knowing that Enrile agreed with his stance on issues concerning the WPS.
“It is not to our advantage as the senator has said that we go out and quarrel with China…The senator is one with me. One of the best minds sa ating (in our) generation has agreed with me,” he added.
Prior to Duterte’s declaration to ignore critics, Enrile told him that he would have also pursued the same approach to China’s continued aggression in the disputed waters if he were in the President’s shoes.
“I think history would judge you very well. If I were in your place, I would have done the same thing,” Enrile told Duterte.
Instead of making a foe of China, Enrile said it is better for the Philippines to "befriend" China without surrendering its sovereign rights.
“Kaya, Mr. President, I congratulate you for your effort to see to it that the country will survive in these critical times. Hindi dapat gamitin ang mainit na kaisipan na kagaya ng mga kritiko natin. Dapat balance lang approach natin at mahinahon (Hotheads like our critics should not be used. We must just balance our approach and be calm),” Enrile said. (PNA)
