Marcos seeks ‘clear answer’ on WPS ‘pact’ with Beijing
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. said he wants to determine once and for all if the previous administration had forged a “secret agreement” with China on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
The chief executive said they are now in talks with officials of former President Rodrigo R. Duterte to get a “clear answer” on the matter since he is “horrified” by the thought of such an agreement, as this can compromise the country’s sovereignty in the WPS.
“Nobody told us about such an agreement so we are trying to clear it up to now because from the former administration, they have different answers,” Marcos told reporters in an interview after the Bagong Pilipinas Town Hall Meeting on Traffic Concerns in San Juan City last Wednesday.
“One of the former government officials under the previous administration [said] there’s no such agreement. Another [official] said there is [such an agreement], and we should honor it,” he added.
The President said he will also talk to Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian to find out who approved the agreement from the Philippine side, as well as the details.
Currently, he said, they have yet to find a record of the purported agreement.
Former Presidential Spokesperson Herminio “Harry”l. Roque Jr. maintained there is such a pact to “respect the status quo” in the WPS.
This was contradicted by former Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Salvador S. Panelo, who said he talked with Duterte, who categorically denied he had made such a pact.
China has repeatedly cited the existence of a gentlemen’s agreement made by the Philippine government, which includes the removal of the Philippine grounded ship in the Ayungin Shoal, the BRP Sierra Madre.
Last August, Marcos stressed the country will not remove BRP Sierra Madre, which strengthened the country’s claim in Ayungin Shoal.
He said he is not aware of such agreement and that he will rescind it if exists.
‘A grave mistake’
ALBAY Rep. Edcel C. Lagman said it is not possible to have any form of a“gentlemen’s agreement”with a “chronic aggressor”such as China regarding thewps.
Lagman also condemned former President Rodrigo Duterte’s unilateral agreement with China regarding the West Philippine Sea.
“There can be no ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ with a chronic aggressor like China in the West Philippine Sea,” he said.
He echoed the sentiments expressed by Marcos, saying Duterte’s secretive pact with China’s principal official not only constitutes “a grave mistake” but also undermines Philippine sovereignty.
“I agree with President [Ferdinand] Marcos Jr. that former President Duterte’s unilateral and surreptitious agreement with China’s principal official is a grave mistake and indeed compromises Philippine sovereignty. This has no binding effect,” he said.