PRESIDENT Duterte has barred his Cabinet officials from talking publicly about the territorial dispute with China, except for Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and presidential spokesman Harry Roque.
In his Talk to the People address on Monday night, the President also said he might just ignore his critics as advised by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile who was a guest at his address.
Enrile, who was invited to talk about the dispute with China over the South China Sea, said the best thing Duterte could do is to just to ignore his critics and refrain from commenting further because he will always have detractors no matter what he does. Duterte is being criticized for allegedly not pushing the Filipinos interests and for siding with China.
“This is my order now to the Cabinet and to all — all and sundry…talking for the government to refrain discussing the West Philippine Sea with anybody. If we have to talk, we talk and we talk on our own, and there is one spokesman — Secretary Harry will do it,” the President said in mixed English and Filipino.
But Duterte later clarified his order should not be construed as weakness and on Tuesday said maritime patrols must continue.
“Our agencies have been directed to do what they must and should to protect and defend our nation’s interest,” Duterte said in a statement.
“We will not waver in our position.”
Roque on Tuesday clarified that Locsin is also allowed to speak on the matter.
Asked about other officials like Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS), Roque said Duterte’s instruction “was clear” that only he and Locsin “can speak on the issue now.”
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., also NTF-WPS chairman, have spoken on incursions of Chinese vessels in the WPS in the past weeks. The NTF-WPS also released reports on the presence of the Chinese vessels in Philippine waters.
The President invited Enrile to Malacañang to speak also about the standoff at the Scarborough Shoal in 2014, which the Palace insists is not Duterte’s fault.
Malacañang said the officials of the previous administration like former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario are to blame after the loss of the traditional fishing ground to China during the standoff.
Duterte said he is being criticized and even being accused of being a traitor for the actions and decisions that he is making in relation to China.
“Mr. President, critics you will always have. If I were you, I will not mind them; just mind history, the Filipino people,” Enrile told Duterte who replied that I was the “best advice that he received during the meeting.
Enrile also told the President to continue pursuing diplomatic and friendly ties with China and avoid irritating or offending it.
Enrile questioned the role of former senator Antonio Trillanes IV in the negotiations between the Philippines and China during the standoff.
He said that when he was called to a meeting by then President Benigno Aquino III, with Del Rosario and Trillanes, it was then that he learned that Trillanes had been talking to officials of China about Scarborough Shoal.
Enrile asked how Trillanes secured a connection and acquired his influence over Chinese officials when even him who had been a guest in China, and he believes even Aquino, had no such influence.
He said he had advised Aquino to be wary of Trillanes and his actions.
Duterte said he was baffled why Aquino designated a former military man such as Trillanes to engage in the back-channel talks with China. He said Trillanes had gone to China 16 times.
“I do not demean or belittle our Armed Forces… it is really a wonder to me why, of course it’s only President Aquino who can answer this, why he chose a military man to do the backchanneling? And the problem is it was so, so secretive… negotiation that was kept secret,” the President said.
He added that Trillanes should tell the public about his role.
Trillanes yesterday said he was appointed by Aquino III as backchannel negotiator “because he found me trustworthy unlike Enrile.”
Trillanes also denied Enrile’s statement that he by-passed former Philippine Ambassador to China Sonia Brady when he held backchanneling talks with Chinese officials.
“Check your facts, Mr. Enrile. Amb. Brady first went to Beijing in early August or late July when I was wrapping up the backchannel talks. She was never present at any backchannel meeting from May to July,” he said on Twitter.
“Upon her arrival, at the first instance, I briefed her on the whole talks at the PH Embassy with no Chinese present. That was the only time I met her. After that briefing, I concluded the backchannel talks,” he added.
In another tweet, Trillanes said the Scarborough Shoal problem has been solved during the time of Aquino as the Chinese have ordered their vessels out of the area and no reclamation happened. — With Raymond Africa
