Locsin apologizes to Chinese counterpart
For his expletive-laced Twitter post demanding that China leave the West Philippine Sea, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. apologized yesterday to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying he would “deeply regret” losing his “friendship” with his counterpart.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin assailed Locsin for his “megaphone diplomacy” and advised him to “mind basic manners and act in ways that suit his status.”
“Facts have proven time and time again that megaphone diplomacy can only undermine mutual trust rather than change reality,” the Chinese official said at a press conference in Beijing.
Malacañang, for its part, said only President Duterte could use expletives in his public pronouncements.
Locsin said he apologized to Wang, contrary to the statement of presidential spokesman Harry Roque that it was to Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian that he personally
apologized over his “get the f***k out” tweet.
“Our friendship is open and candid; we talk out issues after the formal presentation of this or that complaint or initiative. Last meeting for one hour lasted 3; mostly on what might best be done in bad situations. I’d deeply regret losing his friendship,” Locsin tweeted.
“I won’t plead the last provocation as an excuse for losing it; but if Wang Yi is following Twitter then I’m sorry for hurting his feelings but his alone,” he said, and that only Wang’s opinion matters.
He emphasized he only apologized to Wang and not to the Chinese ambassador.
“Not to the Chinese ambassador. It’s his job to take complaint or insult. To State Counselor Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the smartest and most personable diplomat in the whole world,” he said in English and Filipino. “Harry understands my hair-trigger temper under repeated provocation.”
He added Wang’s elegance is his “elusive dream to copy until I attain in mind and manner.”
On Monday, Locsin told China to “get the f**k out” of Philippine waters as he filed two more diplomatic protests over the “incessant, illegal” presence of its fishing boats in the West Philippine Sea and its coast guards’ “shadowing, blocking, dangerous maneuver and radio challenges” against the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).
Roque, meanwhile, made it clear to Locsin and other Cabinet members that only President Duterte can curse and spew invectives in public, especially in situations that can affect diplomacy.
“So, I repeat, the message of the President in the field of diplomacy: there is no space for expletives. The President’s message is addressed to all members of the Cabinet. Only the President can curse, nobody can imitate his ways,” Roque said in Filipino.
“I think what was clear from the President’s instruction to me last night after our private meeting with (Defense) Secretary (Delfin) Lorenzana is that he does not approve of the use of profanities, particularly in the field of diplomacy,” he said, when asked if Duterte was angered by Locsin’s profanity.
“The President is the principal and all the Cabinet members are alter egos. So, I guess the guidance being given by the President now is you have no authority to use profanities, particularly in the sensitive field of diplomacy,” Roque explained.
‘Grand larceny’
Meanwhile, former Supreme Court justice Antonio Carpio yesterday said President Duterte may have committed “grand estafa or grand larceny” with his denial of having made a promise during the presidential campaign to retake the West Philippine Sea from China.
“To deceive the people, wherein he received 16 million votes during the presidential polls, would mean that he committed ‘grand estafa’ or ‘grand larceny,”’ Carpio said.
“President Duterte cannot now say that he never discussed or mentioned the West Philippine Sea issue when he was campaigning for president. Otherwise, he would be admitting that he was fooling the Filipino people big time,” he said.
“There is a term for that – grand estafa or grand larceny. Making a false promise to get 16 million votes,” he added.
On Monday, President denied issuing a statement during the campaign that he would retake the West Philippine Sea.
But the retired magistrate recalled that Duterte expressly made his position on the West Philippine Sea issue known during a presidential debate.
At that time, Duterte, then the mayor of Davao City, said in Filipino, “I will go to China, and if they don’t want it, then I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest boundary there in Spratlys, Scarborough. I will disembark, ride a jet ski holding a Filipino flag and go to their airport to plant it.”
Duterte was further quoted as saying, “Then I would say, ‘this is ours and do what you want with me. Bahala na kayo (It’s up to you).”
Carpio also said Duterte had issued a statement expressing full support for the arbitration case against China.
As this developed, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Cirilito Sobejana reassured Filipino fishermen yesterday of protection, especially from Philippine Navy vessels patrolling the West Philippine Sea.
He said the military, particularly the Philippine Navy, is not intimidated by the presence of Chinese vessels in the area. The PCG and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) also regularly patrol the area. “We are not intimidated by the challenges,” Sobejana said in a radio interview over dzBB.
“We also challenge them. We counter-challenge them too that the WPS is not theirs, that the WPS belongs to the Philippines,” the AFP chief said.
Sobejana said the Philippine Navy deploys its naval assets in areas they are needed most or where Filipino fishermen ply their trade.
“Because of our presence, they are given protection and this gives them more confidence as they see naval assets from the Philippine Navy, the coast guard and BFAR,” he explained.
He said the AFP is improving its facilities on Pag-asa Island so it can serve as supply and fuel depot as well as recreational area for soldiers and sailors involved in regular patrols in the West Philippine Sea.