De Lima to AFP: Duterte’s conduct over West Philippine Sea ‘treasonous’

Senator Leila De Lima accused President Rodrigo Duterte of "relinquishing" disputed territories in the West Philippine Sea despite an international court's ruling in the country's favor and called his conduct "treasonous."

In a handwritten dispatch from her detention cell in Camp Crame released Tuesday, De Lima called on the officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to "know treason when it rears its ugly head in your motherland."

"There is no more treasonous conduct and act of betrayal than relinquishing our Spratlys territories in the midst of an international decision saying we have every right to hold on to and defend those islands and atolls as part of our Exclusive Economic Zone, to the exclusion of China," she wrote.

Her sharply worded statement comes on the heels of an order by the commander-in-chief to cease construction activities on Sandy Cay, a newly formed sandbar in contested waters, after opposition from the Philippines' giant territorial rival China.

"Do not betray your people and your country in this watershed moment of our sovereignty and independence. Do not follow Duterte down his traitor's path," De Lima added.

The embattled senator, who is detained over drug-related charges, also accused Duterte of behaving like a "good lapdog to his Chinese masters" when he issued the said order.

"The AFP should take note that their Commander-in-Chief is fast becoming, if he is not yet, the proverbial Manchurian candidate," she wrote.

A Manchurian candidate is a public official controlled by a foreign power. US President Donald Trump also has been called one by American media for allegedly being under the influence of the Russian government, which has been accused of colluding with him in last year's election.

De Lima also raised the Philippines' victory over China at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, saying the country is backed by international law and the "support of the world's largest democracies," with only Duterte continuing to "betray" the country.

The international tribunal last year ruled that China's nine-dash-line and claims to historic rights over the area were invalid under international law.

"Only our Chinese lackey of a President continues to betray us and our victory, dragging with him the whole Armed Forces who still think they are following orders from a Filipino commander-in-chief, instead of a Chinese lapdog," De Lima wrote.

"The AFP should be aware that there might be no turning back from this policy of subservience or defeatism. It could be that the status quo of Chinese dominance and Philippines’ defaulting in the Spratlys is firmly irreversible," she added.

For De Lima, not even negotiations on crafting a Code of Conduct to prevent conflicting claims in the South China Sea—which got the green light in this week's ASEAN Summit—will be especially helpful, because they will "only reinforce the Philippines’ disadvantaged status quo position."

China, for its part, has continued reclamation activities and militarization in the area, raising concern from countries such as the US, Japan, and Australia.

The Philippines, however, has been tagged as "soft-pedaling" in the territorial dispute as it seemingly cozies up to Beijing.

Still, Duterte said he brought up the ASEAN's worry over the supposed militarization in the area out of his duty as the economic bloc's chair this year, but also added that the territorial dispute is "better left untouched" for now.  — Nicole-Anne Lagrimas/BM, GMA News