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PHL has shifted to ‘conciliatory tack’ with China in territorial row — Palace


Malacañang on Sunday said that the government has shifted to a more "conciliatory" and "friendly" tone with China in efforts to resolve the dispute between the two nations over the territories in the West Philippine Sea.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the remark amid the results of a recent Social Weather Stations survey which showed that 87 percent of adult Filipinos say it is important that the Philippines regain control of the islands occupied by China in the West Philippine Sea.

In a statement, Roque said that Malacañang "is one with the people" in asserting the country's sovereign rights and territorial claims in the West Philippine Sea.

He also added that the previous administration's "confrontational" approach only caused territories in the West Philippine sea to be further militarized.

"Having seen how the confrontational approach of the previous administration only spurred greater militarization, we have shifted to a conciliatory tack and friendly dialogue with China," he said.

Roque said this is employed through a "bilateral consultation mechanism" to resolve issues while the Philippine government builds up the country's capability to monitor and defend its maritime interests.

In a separate interview on Sunday, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. on also maintained that the Philippines does not have the capacity to wage war against China to assert its claims in the West Philippine Sea.

President Rodrigo Duterte has also made this assertion as critics called for a stronger response to China's activities in the West Philippine Sea.

Acting Chief Justice Antonio Carpio, however, has criticized this view as a "false choice," stressing that war has never been an option in asserting the country's rights in the disputed sea.

"I think it’s a false choice, false option because war is not an option and it’s never been an option and it would be unconstitutional to the Philippines to go to war to assert its sovereign rights in West Philippine Sea," Carpio told News To Go in May.

"So war is not an option, we have never used that argument before. We went to The Hague precisely because war is not an option and we won and we should continue using international law," he added.

In 2016 the Philippines prevailed at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which ruled that China's claim over nearly the entirety of the South China Sea has no legal basis.  — Erwin Colcol/BM, GMA News

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