Palace: Duterte did not promise to literally take back lost West Philippine Sea islands

While President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 campaign promise to plant a Philippine flag on West Philippine Sea islands was explicit, that did not mean he would literally take back West Philippine islands lost to China, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Monday.

Roque made the comments while defending the President’s Monday night pronouncement that he never promised to retake Philippine features in the West Philippine Sea.

The President made the denial five years since the 2016 Presidential debate during which he said, “Kapag sinabi [ng UN arbitral tribunal] na panalo tayo at ayaw ng China… I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest boundary, diyan sa Spratly, sa Scarborough. Bababa ako at sasakay ako ng jetski, dala dala ko ang flag ng Filipino at pupunta ako dun sa airport [ng China] tapos itanim ko. I will say, 'This is ours and do what you want with me.”

“The President should be construed literally. Hindi niya ipinangako na maibabalik niya ang mga teritoryong nawala sa atin,” Roque said.

(He did not promise that he will take back lost territories.)

Roque then claimed that since the President came to office in June 2016, China had stopped its reclamation activities in the West Philippine Sea.

“Nagtagumpay ang Presidente, kasi sa kanyang administration, walang bagong reclamation na ginawa ang China, walang bagong mga refurbishment na ginawa sa mga artificial islands ng China,” Roque added.

(The President succeeded in his approach. Under his administration, there were no additional Chinese reclamation activities, no refurbishment of artificial islands by China.)

The Department of Foreign Affairs under the Duterte Administration, however, has been filing diplomatic protests against China over Beijing's unabated deployment of military and coast guard ships.

China had also acted against Filipino fisherfolk within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea, most recently in the Julian Felipe Reef.

In a July 2016 ruling, the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration already rejected China's claim of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea, a portion of which the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea.

The same Hague court decision, which stemmed from a case filed by the Philippines against China in 2013, also ruled that the Spratlys Islands, Panganiban (Mischief) Reef, Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal and Recto (Reed) Bank are within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone,

President Duterte, however, said this year that he will only act on Chinese aggression within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea only if China starts drilling for oil. — DVM, GMA News