Carpio Accepts Duterte’s Challenge To Debate, Asks Him To Resign

Retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio on Thursday, May 6, accepted President Duterte's challenge for a debate over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

"I gladly accept the challenge anytime at the President's convenience," Carpio said in a statement.

Carpio added Duterte “should now resign immediately” from his post because he could easily prove the President wrong in saying he was involved in the decision to withdraw the country’s vessel during the 2012 standoff with China in Scarborough Shoal.

“President Duterte should now resign immediately to keep his word of honor,” Carpio said, noting he could “state under oath” that he was never involved in the decision to withdraw the Philippine Navy warship from WPS during the standoff.

Carpio pointed out he was sitting justice at the time and not a member of the executive department.  He said he only read about the incident in the newspapers.

He said former president Benigno Aquino III, the defense and foreign affairs secretaries as well as the chiefs of the Philippine Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard at the time could be his witnesses.

Read more: Duterte Challenges Carpio To A Debate

Carpio, who retired in 2019,  made the pronouncements as Duterte lashed out at him again over the WPS and called the 2016 ruling issued by The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration that favored the Philippines over China a piece of paper that could be thrown into the waste basket.

In his address, Duterte also said he would resign if he was lying about his claim that Carpio was involved in the retreat of the Navy warship during the standoff between the Philippines and China.

“Ngayon kung ako ay nagsisinungaling, mag-resign ako bukas kaagad. 'Yan ang garantiya ko sa inyo (Now if I’m lying, I will resign the next day. That’s my guarantee to you),” Duterte said.

Officials of the past administration had been saying from the beginning that it was China who reneged on the agreement brokered by the United States for both Manila and Beijing to pull out from the shoal to finally end the standoff.

Both Carpio and former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario, whom Duterte has also been blaming for the supposed loss of Philippine waters, said they could not understand why the President was giving more importance to Beijing’ version of the story rather than his fellow Filipinos.

They added that nothing was lost as the arbitral ruling upheld the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone and its rights even over Mischief Reef, which China occupied in 1995. Scarborough Shoal was declared a traditional fishing ground where both Filipino and Chinese fishermen could operate.

The incident was also no secret as it was reported worldwide, although Del Rosario did not immediately disclose the US-brokered agreement as it was “an operational undertaking” that he could not discuss with the media.

"We are pursuing the diplomatic track in terms of coming to a resolution on the issue," Del Rosario said at the time.

As the details of the agreement were revealed, China denied there was such a deal between Manila and Beijing.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque assured the public that Duterte is ready to engage in a formal debate with the retired magistrate.

“If he (Carpio) wants a formal debate, kahit kailan po ‘yan, welcome naman po po ni presidente ‘yan (The president welcomes it anytime he wants),” Roque said in a press briefing on Thursday.

Asked if Duterte was serious in making the challenge, or was it just another figure of speech, Roque said it’s a mixture of both.

“I think it's both. I think they've been conducting this debate in public already,” Roque said, reiterating that no Philippine territories were lost to China during the Duterte administration.

The Philippine Bar Association offered to host the debate between Carpio and Duterte.

Roque also assailed Carpio and Del Rosario, saying the former magistrate was chief presidential legal counsel in 1995 when Mischief Reef was seized by China.

Critics said China seems to do no wrong in the eyes of the Duterte and his administration and that current officials are mistaken in downplaying the arbitral ruling, instead of pursuing and fortifying it in favor of the Philippines.

Del Rosario has also hit back at Duterte after the Chief Executive, in another late night address on Monday, May 3, said he did not promise to retake the WPS while he was campaigning as president in 2016.

Read more: Duterte: ‘I Never Promised That I Would Retake The West Philippine Sea’

Duterte’s pronouncement, however, was contrary to his  statement back in a presidential debate in 2016, wherein he said he would ride a jet ski to the disputed parts of the WPS while waving the Philippine flag to assert the country’s sovereignty.

“With due respect, Mr. President, whether or not you promised to retake the West Philippine Sea and pressure China, it is the duty of the President under the Constitution to protect what is ours and our fellow Filipinos are relying on the President to do so,” Del Rosario said in a statement on Tuesday, May 4.

The former top diplomat likewise reminded Duterte that it was Chinese President Xi Jinping who deceitfully breached an agreement brokered by the US on the 2012 standoff.

“We withdrew while Beijing did not. Until now, China refuses to withdraw its vessels to the prejudice of the Filipino people,” he said.

Del Rosario also urged Duterte to uphold the arbitral award, and not to “trade our lands and waters for prospects of money given by China.”

“On the comment made by the President that he will punch me when he sees me, may we convey that we wish him well and may he uphold his sworn duty to the Filipino people,” he emphasized.