Locsin supports probe on Philippines' loss of Scarborough Shoal

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. has backed President Rodrigo Duterte’s suggestion to investigate former top diplomat Albert del Rosario over the withdrawal of Philippine forces during the 2012 Scarborough Shoal standoff.

“We’re all old on both sides of the argument about the loss of Scarborough Shoal; it is time that those ones who were in charge of protecting our territory come clean on what exactly happened when we walked—rather sailed away from a confrontation. Could anyone make them do that?” Locsin said in a tweet Thursday.

He said the country wants to know if the former officials have tried protecting Scarborough Shoal.

“No power could make us back down. But the country wants to know if they tried. So who decided we should? That loss of nerve left a burden impossible to carry to completely satisfy our loss of territory & honor. Even The Arbitral Award falls far short of restoring what we lost,” Locsin said.

In another series of tweet, Locsin agreed with Duterte’s argument that UN-backed arbitral court in The Hague does not “pronounce sovereignty” and the arbitral ruling it awarded to the Philippines only “described features and the extent of jurisdiction.”

The ruling likewise shot down historical pretensions of claims while upholding the rights under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the See (UNCLOS), Locain also said.

“Like all international bodies it has no enforcement capability or authority unlike the Security Council by unanimous vote,” he said.

“The only body that can kick another country out of its territory is the one whose territory was taken; and the time to do that was when our Navy ship faced off with Chinese ship(s). Instead, it was told to withdraw. US did not tell us to do that; it couldn’t; that was purely a Filipino government decision. We demand an explanation,” Locsin added.

In his Wednesday night public address, Duterte said Del Rosario should be investigated for allegedly ordering the Philippine Coast Guard to withdraw from Scarborough Shoal. His speech became controversial when he described the 2016 arbitral award as a “piece of paper.”

Del Rosario, in a statement, lamented the President's pronouncement that the 2016 arbitral ruling is a scrap of paper, stressing the international tribunal's decision is "valid and binding" and must be enforced against China.

Duterte also challenged retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio to a debate on the “retreat” of Philippine ships from the Scarborough Shoal.

He said he will resign if his story about the Scarborough Shoal standoff is proven false.

Carpio accepted Duterte’s challenge. --KBK, GMA News