Distinguishing jokes in Duterte’s statements on West Philippine Sea, a very big problem —Lacson

Published May 11, 2021 10:25 AM By HANA BORDEY,GMA News

Distinguishing President Rodrigo Duterte’s jokes from his official statements on the West Philippine Sea is a very big problem in Filipinos’ hands, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Tuesday.

“We may have a big problem here because we don’t know at what point is he joking and at what point he was serious. And we don’t know anymore when he is joking and when he is not,” Lacson said in an ANC interview.

This was his statement after Duterte, in his Monday night public address, said his 2016 remark about riding a jet ski to the WPS

and telling the Chinese that it belonged to the Philippines was just a campaign joke.

“Is it up to us to discern, to understand kung ano ang portion ng salita niya ang joke at anong portion ang serious? Mahirap ‘yon, it is really hard for Filipinos (Is it up to us to discern which portions of his statements are jokes and which portions are serious? It is really hard for Filipinos to understand that),” he said.

“So many times his spokesperson says ‘No, it’s just hyperbole. Nagbibiro lang ang presidente, ‘di sya seryoso’ (The president is just joking, he is not serious) but there are times he seemed serious in his statements. So we don’t know anymore. We have that very big problem in our hand.”

Lacson further pointed out that even the members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are getting mixed signals on what the military should do in protecting the disputed area.

“Even the (members of the) AFP are confused. We talked to a lot of middle-grade officers and even the high-ranking officers, they are willing to patrol their specific assigned areas in the West Philippine Sea, the problem is they are getting mixed signals,” the senator said.

“While the secretary of National Defense and even the secretary of Foreign Affairs Teddyboy Locsin have expressed strongly against the incursions pero ‘pag nagsalita ang commander-in-chief, iba naman ang message (but when the commander-in-chief talks, the message is different) and then they are getting so many justifications and so many reasons not to conduct their usual patrols,” he added.

The lawmaker said this confusing message from the President may also affect the country’s possible options in protecting the WPS, including the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States.

He said the US forces have also limited resources as helping the Philippines in its WPS issue is not their only interest.

Lacson said America’s forces are also thinly spread and it can only schedule a patrol with the Philippine Navy in the WPS.

Critics of Duterte have been recalling his 2016 presidential debate remarks after he tagged the 2016 arbitral award, which favored the Philippines' exclusive economic zone over China's historical claims, "a scrap of paper."

Duterte said the jet ski remark was a “bravado” and was “pure campaign joke.”

He also emphasized that he will die if he sail to Pag-asa Island, which is around 150 nautical miles from Palawan, using only a jet ski.—AOL, GMA News

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