Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the Philippines can trust China to honor its agreements but must be cautious amid tensions over claims in the West Philippine Sea.
“Of course we trust China… It is a regional power and I have no reason to believe that it will renege on any agreements,” he said in a message to reporters.
“The devil, as they say, are in the details later on when we go on joint development of the resources in the WPS. Let us trust but we must also be cautious,” Lorenzana added.
Earlier, the Philippines and China agreed to form groups that would draft agreements on joint oil and gas exploration in the WPS.
“But at this stage, our governments have agreed to disagree civilly on the WPS issue while we manage our differences. Our relationship with China is not circumscribed by the WPS issue alone,” Lorenzana said.
He said there are other bigger issues that the Philippines and China can agree on, which are mutually beneficial, such as trade, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.
Malacañang on Monday dismissed the criticism of exiled communist leader Jose Maria Sison that President Rodrigo Duterte has merely bowed to China and surrendered the country’s internationally recognized sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.
Sison is nothing but an “aging armchair passé rebel,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.
“The Duterte presidency is engrossed in its constitutional duty of serving and protecting the Filipino people, that it has no time to waste in responding to the latest anti-Duterte statement of Jose Maria Sison,” Panelo said.
“It is another arrant raving and incorrigible ranting coming from an aging armchair passé rebel whose illusory vision has outsprinted the ticking hands of time,” he added.
Sison, one of President Duterte’s staunchest critics, slammed the President for his “purposeless exercise” of bringing up the arbitral win before Chinese President Xi Jinping during his five-day visit to China.
The communist leader pointed out that Duterte “merely acquiesced” to Xi when the Chinese leader reiterated that his government does not recognize the ruling.
The Palace said the two leaders had agreed not to force the issue and focus instead on enhanced cooperation.
Sison also criticized Duterte’s “treacherous” and “lopsided” agreements with China, including the joint oil and gas exploration deal in potentially-oil rich areas in the West Philippine Sea.
“With control of capital and the technological and industrial means, China will surely be able to take full control of the oil drilling operations to the detriment of the Philippines,” Sison said in a statement dated Aug. 31.
He also questioned the deals between China and Philippines, which he said will strengthen Chinese interests in the country.
Duterte returned to Manila before dawn on Monday after his fifth visit to China, which also marked his eighth meeting with Xi.
Also on Monday, Senator Francis Pangilinan said the Philippines has the right to explore resources in its exclusive economic zone with or without China.
Pangilinan asked the executive department to reveal the details of its agreements with China, particularly on oil exploration in the West Philippine Sea.
“It’s our territory and it’s our natural resources. The Filipino people have all the right to be informed and know the details,” he said.
Pangilinan said the executive department should submit a report of such agreements to the Senate.
While the memorandum of understanding on the oil deal was signed with China late last year, he said the administration should be very cautious in drafting the final agreement and should bare its details to the public.
Earlier, Duterte said he is amenable to a 60-40 sharing deal with China.
Pangilinan acknowledged that talking business with China over the disputed territory is better than fighting.
However, he urged the people to remain vigilant to ensure that the administration would not get into any deal that would be lopsided and would put Filipinos at a disadvantage.