Duterte Challenges Carpio To A Debate

President Duterte once again lashed out at retired Supreme Court senior associate justice Antonio Carpio on Wednesday night, May 5, and challenged the latter to a debate over the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

“Isa rin ug*k itong...Parehas naman tayo na abogado. Gusto mo mag-debate tayo? Ma-dalawa, tatlong tanong lang ako. Sino ang nagpa-retreat at ano ginawa niyo after sa retreat? Nag-file ng kaso, ngayon nanalo. (Another idiot. And we’re both lawyers. Do you want the two of us to debate? I only have two to three questions. Who asked the ships to retreat and what did you do after the retreat? We filed a case, then we won). Did we enforce it?” Duterte said, reiterating his claim that former foreign affairs secretary Albert del Rosario was responsible for the loss of Philippine waters to China.

Duterte insisted this happened when Del Rosario asked the country’s vessel to back off during a standoff with China in Scarborough Shoal in 2012.

In his late night address on Monday, May 3, Duterte claimed that during his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, he was told that Carpio and Del Rosario “gifted” China with the WPS when he brought up issue on resources.

Duterte also claimed that he never mentioned about retaking the WPS while he was campaigning for president back in 2016.

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

On the contrary, Duterte, in a presidential debate in 2016, actually said that he would ride a jet ski to the disputed parts of the WPS while waiving the Philippine flag, all to assert the country’s sovereignty.

He also cursed at Carpio and Del Rosario for attacking his friendly stance toward China.

In response Carpio released a statement, saying that Duterte may have committed “grand estafa” by making a false promise during the presidential campaign.

“President Duterte cannot now say that he never discussed or mentioned the West Philippine Sea issue when he was campaigning for president. Otherwise, he would be admitting that he was fooling the Filipino people big time,” Carpio said.

“There is a term for that – grand estafa or grand larceny. Making a false promise to get 16 million votes,” he added.

Read more: Carpio: Duterte May Have Committed ‘Grand Estafa’

‘Papel lang ‘yan’

Duterte also downplayed the Philippines’ historic win against China in The Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in 2016.

The PCA, in its ruling, found that Beijing has no legal basis to claim historic rights to a “nine-dash line” in the South China Sea. But Duterte simply called the historic ruling as a piece of paper that should be thrown into a waste basket.

"Iyang papel, sa totoong buhay between nations, iyang papel, wala ‘yan. (That paper, in between nations honestly, that paper is nothing),” he said.

“Actually sa usapang bugoy, sabihin ko sa’yo, ibigay mo sa akin, p***** *** papel lang ‘yan. Itatapon ko ‘yan sa waste basket (In boy talk, I’ll tell you, give me that f****** paper, I’ll throw it in the waste basket.)

The President also set aside Del Rosario’s call for the current administration to uphold the historic ruling before the United Nations.

To recall, Del Rosario, in his open letter addressed to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea on Sunday, May 2, asked the Duterte government to explain why it seemed to be giving more importance to China than to Filipinos who were questioning the seizures of land features in the WPS.

Del Rosario likewise reminded the Duterte administration that there are various ways to enforce the 2016 ruling, one of them being to submit the case before the UN General Assembly.

But Duterte said that this would only waste his time, and would tarnish the “good relations” between the Philippines and China.

To justify this, Duterte mentioned the concept of “utang na loob” or debt of gratitude.

“Do you know the dimensions of utang na loob (debt of gratitude)?” Duterte asked, noting that this is a different fight because China helped a “neighbor who is suffering.”

“So I said my thanks. We have gratitude,” Duterte said.

Megaphone diplomacy

Earlier on Wednesday, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the Philippines should continue to exert pressure on China and bring to the forefront Beijing’s illegal activities in the West Philippines Sea (WPS) through “megaphone diplomacy” to match the neighboring giant’s “gunboat diplomacy.”

“I would rather that we continue with the megaphone diplomacy because of the gunboat diplomacy of China,” Drilon said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.

“We must continue to expose these illegal acts of China. That is why megaphone diplomacy, as the Chinese foreign minister would call it, is maybe the appropriate course that we have today so that we can keep China on its toes insofar as the world forum is concerned,” he added.

Drilon stated this as he defended Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.’s use of expletive-laden words against China on Twitter as the latter was very patriotic.

On Tuesday, May 4, Locsin apologized for his expletive-laced Twitter post on Monday, May 3, demanding that China leave the WPS.

Read More: Locsin Apologizes To Chinese Counterpart;Only Duterte Can Use Expletives – Palace

Locsin said sorry to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, noting that he would “deeply regret” losing his “friendship” with his counterpart.

China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also assailed Locsin for his “megaphone diplomacy” and advised him to “mind basic manners and act in ways that suit his status.” 

“Maybe his emotional outburst is because of the frustration that he cannot do much except file diplomatic protests on this incursion of China,” Drilon said.

He stressed Locsin’s statements as well as that of Defense Secretay Delfin Lorenzana reflect the sentiments of the majority of Filipinos, who are all frustrated by what China is doing to the country.

“Again, the megaphone diplomacy is probably the only weapon that we have today. We must keep this in the consciousness not only of the Philippines but of the whole world,” Drilon said.

“We must keep this to the attention of the world so that China will realize that they are getting isolated with the way they have been conducting themselves, ignoring the judgment of the tribunal. Otherwise, if we just keep quiet, nothing will happen,” he added.

The minority leader also described as “quite unfortunate”the government’s “different voices” when it comes to the issue of China’s illegal incursion into the country’s territory.

He said  while Locsin and Lorenzana are taking a strong position on the issue, Duterte, “on the other end of the scale…asserts that we must continue our cordial relations with China.”

He also urged the country to lead a group of nations with claims in the WPS or South China Sea, such as Vietnam and Taiwan, to confront China.

“What I’d like to see is the Philippine leading a group of nations to confront China using a multi-national approach, because we cannot confront China alone. Maghanap tayo ng mga kasamang (let’s look for allied) nations which are similarly situated,” Drilon said.