Del Rosario to Duterte: A promise or not, it's your duty to protect what's ours

Former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert Del Rosario on Tuesday urged President Rodrigo Duterte to defend the country's territorial waters in the West Philippine Sea whether or not it was a promise made in his presidential campaign in 2016.

Del Rosario made the remark after Duterte on Monday night said that he never promised during the campaign that he would retake from China features in the West Philippine Sea.

"With due respect, Mr. President, whether or not you promised to retake the West Philippine Sea and pressure China, it is the duty of the President under the Constitution to protect what is ours and our fellow Filipinos are relying on the President to do so," Del Rosario said in a statement  which GMA News' Chino Gaston posted on Facebook.

In a televised Cabinet briefing on Monday, Duterte denied making promises that he would pressure China over Philippines' claims at the disputed waters.

"I never, never in my campaign as president promised the people that I would retake the West Philippine Sea. I did not promise that I will pressure China," Duterte said on Monday night.

"I never mentioned China and the Philippines in my campaign because that is a very serious matter," he added.

The a presidential candidate in 2016, Duterte said he would ride a jet ski to the Scarborough Shoal and plant a Philippine flag. He said he would tell the Chinese that the shoal belonged to Filipinos.

“Kapag sinabi [ng UN arbitral tribunal] na panalo tayo at ayaw ng China, I will not go to war. Pupunta ako sa China. Ngayon 'pag ayaw nila, I will ask the Navy to bring me to the nearest boundary, diyan sa Spratly, sa Scarborough,” Duterte said in the Pangasinan leg of the presidential debates on April 24, 2016.

“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'," he added.

Del Rosario questioned how Duterte could defend China even as he stressed that it was the Chinese who continued occupy Scarborough despite an agreement that Del Rosario said the United States brokered.

"On Scarborough Shoal, China is the aggressor and the one occupying our territory. We would like to ask why you would believe Chinese President Xi Jinping over your own people?" Del Rosario said.

"To address an impasse, it was Xi Jinping who deceitfully breached the Scarborough agreement brokered by the U.S. for the withdrawal of all ships on both sides by a certain hour," he added.

"We withdrew while Beijing did not. Until now, China refuses to withdraw its vessels due to the prejudice of the Filipino people," Del Rosario said.

Duterte, who previously called China as Philippines' "good friend," claimed that the Chinese President told him it was former Chief Justice Antonio Carpio and Del Rosario who gave the islands to China.

"Sabi nga ni Xi Jinping: 'Alam namin. Iyon yung dalawang, si Carpio at Del Rosario ang nagregalo ng islands mo.' Namigay ang mga p— ina  tapos they have the temerity to blame anybody for your, in diplomatic term, their faux pas,'" he added.

[Xi Jinping told me that it was Carpio and Del Rosario who gave me the islands as a gift. They were the ones who gave the islands and they have the temerity to blame anybody for their, in diplomatic terms, faus pax.]

Del Rosario further called on the Chief Executive to "not to trade Philippines' lands and waters for prospects of money given by China."

"On the comment made by the President that he will punch me when he sees me, may we convey that we wish him well and may he uphold his sworn duty to the Filipino people," Del Rosario said. —NB, GMA News