Locsin says 'Chinese draft' of oil deal may have been written by Trillanes staff

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro "Teddyboy" Locsin Jr. on Monday dismissed the authenticity of the supposed draft of the joint oil and gas exploration between China and the Philippines that was bared by Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Locsin, in an interview on ANC, stressed that there was only one deal that was agreed upon by the two countries and that is the Memorandum of Agreement on the Oil and Gas Development that he himself penned.

"It was waived to me... I've never seen anything like that. It's like a 16-point large, this big, three spaces between and there were pointers... and said, 'Chinese...' I just put it aside because I'm trained in Angara law office to look at memorandum of agreements in a certain way," Locsin said.

Locsin said he has no idea where Trillanes obtained the document, adding that a staff member of the opposition senator may have written it.

"How can I response to non-sense? It's not even a draft. It may have been written by Trillanes' staff. I can't respond... I'm dealing with a foreign power. He's dealing with a staff member," Locsin said.

Last week, Trillanes, a staunch critic of the Duterte administration, released a supposed draft of an alleged framework agreement on joint maritime oil and gas exploration between China and the Philippines, noting that it came from an informant.

The document stated that the agreement to “conduct joint oil and gas exploration in relevant sea areas in the South China Sea” was in accordance with the principles of “mutual respect, fairness and mutual benefit, flexibility and pragmatism, and consensus” through equal and friendly consultation.

The two countries, during the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping in Manila last week, inked a memorandum of understanding covering oil and gas development.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi, however, clarified that the document signed was only a "joint consensus on cooperation in finding ways to explore resources" in the resource-rich West Philippine Sea.  —Anna Felicia Bajo/KBK, GMA News