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Duterte explains why he backed out of debate with Carpio


President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday explained why he backed out of the challenge he posed to former Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio that they debate on issues concerning the West Philippine Sea.

"Ang problema rito nakalimutan ko ako ang Presidente," Duterte said in his weekly talk to the people .

[The problem here is I forgot that I was the President.] 

Duterte made the remark days after presidential spokesman Secretary Harry Roque Jr. said that the Chief Executive listened to Cabinet secretaries' advice that he should not engage Carpio in a debate.

He said his statements in the debate could be construed as "policy."

"I might bind future actions of government pagdating dito sa West Philippine Sea, pero du'n ako sa kahon," Duterte said.

"It’s not because I'm afraid of debates," he added.

Duterte said he would insist on the one issue before going to other side issues.

"Sino ang nagbigay ng possession sa China sa West Philippine Sea? Sila, kung hindi sila umalis, wala sanang problema," Duterte said.

[Who gave up possession of the West Philippine Sea to China? They did. If they didn't leave, there would not have been any problem.]

"Hindi ako takot sa'yo. Ang problema, 'di ko nga alam na 'di ka presidente," he added.

[I'm not afraid of you. The problem is, I didn't know that you were not the President.]

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the Philippines "lost possession" of Scarborough Shoal when it pulled out during the standoff in 2012.

"If your government at that time believes that that is yours, why will you withdraw?" Locsin said.

"History does not confer rights. Tradition does not confer rights once a law comes into play... Why did we yield possession? Who gave the order to withdraw that ship because it's from there that we start having problems... That's a separate issue from the arbitral award," he added.

Locsin said before starting any debate on the obligations generated by the arbitral award, the issue of "who in the game of chicken stopped this car on the edge of the abyss" should be first addressed.

Last week, Duterte challenged Carpio to a debate on the withdrawal of Navy ships during a 2012 standoff with China at Scarborough Shoal. He vowed to resign if proven false.

Carpio accepted the challenge, but Malacañang said Roque would debate the former justice instead. —NB, GMA News

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