Ex-DFA chief Del Rosario to Duterte: Reject China's 'narrative of war'

Former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario is urging President Rodrigo Duterte to reject China's "narrative of war" in connection with the continuing dispute involving parts of the South China Sea.

Duterte in 2017 said China’s President Xi Jinping had told him that there will be war if the Philippines will force the issue in the West Philippine Sea, the portion of South China Sea that the Philippines claims.

In a statement, Del Rosario reiterated that war is not the only option the Philippines has in asserting its rights over the portion of the South China Sea it calls the West Philippine Sea.

"As we have said before, neither war nor bloodshed is an option for the Philippines to assert its rights over the West Philippine Sea," he said.

"We respectfully urge the President to reject this Chinese narrative of war, because it is intended to scare countries to submit to China’s will of illegally occupying the South China Sea."

Del Rosario was refuting Duterte's claim that asserting the country's rights in the West Philippine Sea may provoke China war -- a claim Duterte repeated during his recent public address.

Del Rosario reiterated that fighting for the country's rights can be achieved using peaceful means, like raising the 2016 Hague Ruling at the United Nations General Assembly again in September this year and resuming joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea.

"We have not exhausted the options available to our country such as raising the Arbitral Ruling again at the UN General Assembly this September to gather more support from other countries; and taking other concrete steps to consolidate support from our allie which includes engaging in joint patrols in the West Philippine Sea," he said. 

Del Rosario said the "inane notion" that invoking the Hague ruling and standing up for the country's rights are tantamount to waging war against China.

"The President has already invoked the Arbitral Ruling that we won in The Hague at the 75th UN General Assembly and the 37th ASEAN Summit last year. We do not see a war being waged by China against us," he said.

Del Rosario cited that the Philippines, for one, already managed to pressure China to disperse its vessels in Julian Felipe (Whitsun) Reef without war or bloodshed but through the courageous assertion of the country’s rights by Philippine officials and soldiers.

"Because we asserted our rights against China in Julian Felipe Reef, our allies in the world like the US and Japan supported our position against the massing of Chinese vessels," he pointed out.

Del Rosario then urged Duterte to follow the recent initiative of the National Task Force on West Philippines Sea, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Filipino soldiers in asserting our country's rights in the West Philippine Sea.

While the presence of over 240 Chinese ships in various reefs in the West Philippine Sea remains a challenge, del Rosario said all is not lost.

"In the face of continuing aggression by China, we would like to see a stronger and more strategic leadership in our President, as Commander-in-Chief of our armed forces, to stand up for what is ours," he said. —KBK, GMA News