Marcos to Duterte: Let’s talk about ‘secret’ deal with China

WASHINGTON, D.C.: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he was convinced that his predecessor Rodrigo Duterte brokered a “secret agreement” with China over the West Philippine Sea (WPS) and offered to sit down with him to discuss it.

The deal was specifically about not having repairs done on the BRP Sierra Madre, the Philippine ship grounded deliberately on Ayungin Shoal, one of the disputed territories between Manila and Beijing.

In a briefing with the Philippine media delegation here, Marcos said he was baffled over the latest confirmation by the Chinese Embassy in Manila that there was an agreement forged between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping and that no one informed him and his team upon his assumption into office in 2022.

“So, now, with the confirmation of the Chinese Embassy, we now know that there was a secret agreement. Now, this is the second question that I have: What is contained in the second agreement?” Marcos asked.

“What did the Duterte administration promise China? Because we don’t know. It is only now that we know there was indeed an agreement. They call it a ‘gentleman’s agreement’; I call it a secret agreement.”

Marcos said he disagreed with the idea because “any agreement with another sovereign state should really be known by the people, by the elected officials, by the Senate because the treaty is to be ratified by the Senate. It should be known by all the local officials. It should be known by everyone because, if, that way you can, you are accountable.”

The President said that Duterte, being “a very experienced lawyer,” was supposed to be “very meticulous about such matters — documenting, recording and writing down everything.”

“Who were the Cabinet secretaries who knew about this? What was the process, what happened, and how did this happen? If it really happened. In my mind, they really talked about something in secret? It’s very clear to me they agreed on something they kept from the people,” he said.

The President said there was a “need to clarify the situation because the Philippines was being put into some uncertainty.” “How can we do the right thing when we weren’t aware that there was already a secret deal on the side? That’s what’s really happening here,” he said.

Ready to talk

Marcos said he was ready to sit down with his predecessor about foreign policies that were sealed during his administration.

Duterte earlier this week claimed to have in his possession documents about Malacañang’s foreign policy during his time and has begun reviewing them, particularly those concerning the Philippines’ territorial row with China over the waterway.

“Send them to me, and then we’ll sit

sit down. Send those documents to me. And then I’ll sit down and discuss it. I’ll do my homework for him. That’s the way I work. I read all the materials first, so when I’m in the conference, I can ask intelligent questions,” he said.

Duterte himself admitted in a separate interview that he and President Xi shook hands on keeping the status quo in the West Philippine Sea.

In a press conference on Thursday, Duterte recounted his conversation with Xi in which they agreed that there would be no armed patrols and construction activities to prevent the escalation of the territorial dispute between their nations.

Asked if the “as is where is” agreement was put on paper, Duterte said it was verbal.

Duterte’s former spokesman Harry Roque claims that Duterte and Xi had a “gentleman’s agreement” to dial down the tension in the West Philippine Sea.

Despite the verbal deal, Duterte said, “We have not conceded anything to China.”

Marcos remained confident that his recently concluded summit with US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida would not hurt China’s economic influence in the Philippines.

He said China would continue whatever investments it chooses to make in the Philippines.

“This [trilateral agreement] is separate from any proposed or potential Chinese investments in the Philippines. How do I see it? How will it affect [the country]? I don’t see that it will affect, one way or the other,” Marcos said.

The Philippines forged a stronger alliance with the US and Japan to protect the Indo-Pacific Region amid the growing tensions in the South China Sea.

Marcos said the alliance would define the future of the Indo-Pacific under a more robust economic, security and defense structure.