For President Rodrigo Duterte, China remains the Philippines’ ally in Southeast Asia, the Palace said late Thursday.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President made the remark during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where Duterte raised Manila’s concerns over Beijing’s activities in the West Philippine Sea“•as both leaders agreed that the issue on the contested waterway can be managed through bilateral talks.
“Both agree that the situation can be managed by the mechanism of bilateral negotiations but it should not affect the cooperation being undertaken by both the Philippines and China and they look forward to a productive discussion on matters of mutual concern and interests,” Panelo said.
Duterte is in China until Saturday for the Belt and Road Initiative forum.
“The Chief Executive culminated the talk with the Chinese President articulating his position that the Philippines remains China’s ally in Southeast Asia,” Panelo continued, adding that Xi even emphasized that both countries, as allies, “strengthen”•and do not destroy”•each other.”
Senators on Friday lauded Duterte’s move to raise China’s incursion in Philippine-held Pag-asa Island before Xi.
Senate President Vicente Sotto and Senator Panfilo Lacson, in separate text messages to GMA News, described the President’s gesture as a “very diplomatic but meaningful move” and “could not have conveyed his message better.”
“It was firm, clear, and unequivocal but in a diplomatic tone. I hope the Chinese leader sees it that way and henceforth reciprocate the good will by respecting the status quo while discussions on the joint exploration of oil is under way,” Lacson told GMA.
Senator Grace Poe, in a statement, agreed that it is time that the Philippines assert its sovereignty and protect its territory. She added that any discussion or agreements on joint development “should proceed from the assumption that the West Philippine Sea is the territory of the Philippines, and that allies should respect each other’s sovereignty.”
“To remove any doubts that such agreements are not detrimental to the interest of Filipinos, they should be made transparent,” Poe said.
According to Panelo, Xi also stressed the importance of having “good neighborliness and proper handling of differences between the countries” amid the tensions over the disputed waters.
“While the Chinese leader acknowledged the inevitable of having challenges to the bilateral relations, he placed importance on the mutual trust that exists between the two nations in order to resolve the same,” he said.
“President Xi cited the Memorandum of Understanding on Oil and Gas as an example where both the Philippines and China suspended their differences for a joint exploration that would mutually benefit both countries and their peoples,” the spokesman added.
Questions of who claims what in the contested resource-filled territories have been revived following reports on the presence of several Chinese militiamen near Pag-asa Island.
While the Palace maintained that Beijing’s action in the Philippine-claimed territories constitutes violations of the country’s sovereignty, Duterte stressed that he would rather have a “compromise with Beijing as going against the East Asian giant’s military might could be as good as “committing suicide.”
However, the President made it clear that while the Philippines continues to be friends with China, “things would be different” once Beijing touched the PH-occupied Pag-asa Island.
Even as the Duterte administration urged the Chinese government to respect the 2016 ruling of the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration invalidating China’s claims to the South China Sea and ruling in favor of the Philippines, the East Asian giant still rejects the arbitral decision.
Chinese elements have continued to construct facilities, extract giant clams, and stop Filipino fishermen from accessing the Philippine-claimed waters.
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