PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. defended on Friday, April 12, 2024, Vice President Sara Duterte, who is mum on the issues related to South China Sea (West Philippine Sea).
In an interview with a Philippine media delegation in Washington DC, Marcos said that Duterte is part of the government, but it is not her role or position as Education Secretary to talk about China.
“So, I think we are all in line because I’m very sure that if Inday Sara had some very serious misgivings about what we are doing in terms of foreign policies, she would bring that to me,” said Marcos.
“And, wala naman siyang, ang pinag-uusapan nga namin, sabi niya, ‘Basta ako trabaho lang ako nang trabaho,’ sabi niyang ganun. That’s a good policy. So, I don’t think it is something that we need to be concerned with,” he added.
(And, she doesn't have, what we were talking about, she said, 'As for me, I just focus on my work,' she said it like that. That’s a good policy. So, I don’t think it is something that we need to be concerned with.)
China has been continuously harassing the Philippines, particularly during the conduct of routine rotation and resupply missions in the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, which was deliberately grounded there by the Philippine Government to signify the country’s sovereignty in the WPS.
It recently issued its version of a standard map, which includes a ten-dashed line (formerly nine-dash line) for most parts of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
In its 2016 ruling, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, Netherlands, affirmed the Philippines’ sovereign rights in the areas being claimed by China.
China, insisting sovereignty on the territory, urged the Philippine government to remove the BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal as part of an “agreement.”
Earlier, former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that former President Rodrigo Duterte had a “gentleman’s agreement” with the Chinese government that both countries will respect the status quo in the WPS. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)