VP bets Bello, Sotto, Pangilinan clash on foreign policy

Discussion became heated among three vice presidential candidates in the 2022 elections regarding proposals to secure the country's maritime borders during a media-organized debate on Saturday.

It started when former Akbayan party-list representative Walden Bello blasted Senator Francis Pangilinan and Senate President Vicente Sotto III for their and their respective running mates' proposed foreign policies that supposedly lean toward relationships with bigger nations.

Bello criticized Sotto for allegedly saying that he would invite the United States "to oppose China," with which the Philippines has a territorial dispute over portions of the South China Sea.

"Papasok na lang daw ang MDT (Mutual Defense Treaty). Hindi maaari yan. We have to have an independent foreign policy," Bello stressed during the CNN Philippines Vice Presidential Debate 2022.

Bello, meanwhile, scored Pangilinan for his supposed proposal for the Philippines to join the Quad, a group composed of the US, Australia, Japan and India.

"That is consistent with the Aquino administration's pro-US policy. You are just carrying that out again!" Bello told Pangilinan.

Both Sotto and Pangilinan denied Bello's claims.

"I did not say we should join the Quad. Listen to the tape. Let's stick to the facts," Pangilinan said.

"I never said invite. I did not use the word invite. I don't know where he (Bello) got that," Sotto, for his part, said, adding that all he said was for the agreement -- referring to the MDT between the Philippines and US -- to be followed.

"There's no one being invited here," Sotto said.

Before the argument, Pangilinan said he is "prepared to fight for our rights over the waters of our Exclusive Economic Zone and not be subservient."

"Hindi tayo puwedeng sunud-sunuran sa China. Gusto natin makipagkaibigan sa China pero huwag naman dahil sa pagkakaibigan natin sa kanila eh igi-give up na natin 'yung 500,000 square kilometers of sovereign and Exclusive Economic Zone," said Vice President Leni Robredo's running mate.

He added that Coast Guard and Navy patrols should resume in Philippine-claimed territories to protect the fishermen.

Pangilinan was responding to a question by fellow vice presidential candidate, Rizalino David, on how he intends to continue "fighting" China.

"We cannot just simply say na ipaglaban natin, ipaglaban natin, at ang nangyayari pa sa mga proposals niyo ang nangyayari pa pina-patronize niyo pa ang mahihirap, hindi niyo naman sila ini-empower with all those things you are presenting. Libreng ganito, ayudang ganyan. That is not empowerment that is patronage," said David, who is currently the executive director of Pro-Life Philippines Foundation.

For his part, Sotto, Senator Panfilo Lacson's vice presidential bet, highlighted anew his bill that seeks to declare and define the Philippine maritime zone.

“The maritime zones will define the internal waters, the archipelagic waters, the territorial waters, and economic zones of the country,” he explained.

Sotto lamented that the Philippine has not clarified the territories that is has jurisdiction over unlike China.

"Kung ang China merong nine dash line, wala tayong maritime zones, hindi maliwanag. That is why I filed the bill to, ika nga, linawing mabuti ‘yan at kapag diyan pinasok tayo nung kapitbahay natin, papasok ang Mutual Defense Treaty. Ang kalaban nila si Kano na," Sotto said. --Hana Bordey, Giselle Ombay and Richa Noriega/KBK, GMA News