Duterte may consult predecessors on dispute with China — Palace

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BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and RAYMOND AFRICA

PRESIDENT Duterte is considering consulting former presidents and other personalities about the Philippines’ dispute with China in the West Philippine Sea in the South China Sea, his spokesman Harry Roque said yesterday.

Roque said the President is not too keen about convening the National Security Council, which is being proposed by former senator Rodolfo Biazon, because he sees nothing is resolved in such a meeting.

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He said Duterte believes a informal consultation is more conducive than a formal NSC meeting.

“Ang problema doon sa National Security Council, sa personal niyang karanasan na nakaka-attend siya, iyong NSC, walang nare-resolve. So, kung kinakailangan, iniisip niya imbitahin ang mga dating mga presidente, ilang mga personalidad para magkaroon ng isang pagpupulong to discuss the issue (The problem with the National Security Council, based on his personal experience, there is nothing resolved. So if needed, he is thinking of inviting the former presidents, and some personalities to a meeting to discuss the issue],” Roque said.

The NSC is composed of the President, the Vice President, the Senate president, House speaker, heads of executive departments, the chairmen of the national defense committees of the Senate and the House, and the Armed Forces chief.

Asked when the possible meeting would be and if former president Benigno Aquino III will be invited, Roque said “President is considering the idea of an alternative to convening the National Security Council. But that is still in the process of consideration.”

The Duterte government is blaming some officials of the Aquino government for supposedly loosing Bajo de Masinloc/Scarborough Shoal to China in 2012.

Roque, responding to Biazon’s statements, said there is nothing confusing about the statements of the President, and said what is clear is that no territory has been lost under the Duterte government.

Last Monday, the President consulted former Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on the West Philippine Sea issue and was told to just ignore his critics and to continue engaging with China diplomatically.

In the past weeks, Duterte criticized retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio and former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario who have been critical of Duterte’s actions and decisions in connection with incursions of Chinese vessels in Philippine waters.

Biazon, also a former Armed Forces chief, said the government’s current stand on the West Philippine Sea issue is “confusing” and could lead China to believe that the Philippines is giving up its interests in the disputed waters.

He said the NSC should be convened so the country can have a “clear, united, national position” on the territorial dispute with China.

“Right now, we are confused. That is dangerous. We are not only confusing ourselves. We are also confusing potential allies in our pursuit of our national interests in the area. We are confusing our potential, our adversary, meaning China, because they are also confused.

They might mount a dangerous move thinking that we have given up the pursuit of our interest in the South China Sea,” said Biazon, a former AFP chief of staff.

Biazon went to the Senate on Wednesday hoping to meet with Sen. Panfilo Lacson, chair of the Senate committee on national defense, but Lacson was in a hearing. Biazon left a recorded video for Lacson.

“With the help of the legislature, we have to call a convening of the National Security Council to provide us a clear, united position on the issue,” he said.

The government has issued contradicting information on the WPS, with presidential spokesman Harry Roque saying the Julian Felipe Reef, where some 200 Chinese vessels were monitored, is not part of the country’s exclusive economic zone. This was refuted by Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin.

Locsin has also reprimanded the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea for coming out with reports about development in the disputed waters. Also, during the 2016 campaign, then Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said he would ask the Navy to bring him to a Philippine island claimed by China and plant a Philippine flag on it to assert the country’s rights. Duterte recently said it was just a joke.

Duterte has been downplaying the country’s win against China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, saying the ruling dismissing China’s claim to almost the entire South China Sea is just a piece of paper that can be thrown in a waste bin because it not enforceable.

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Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Senate “can support” Biazon’s call for convening the NSC. He said he will refer the matter to the Senate committee on national defense.

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