Distractions and mixed signals

Did Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. and President Duterte’s spokesperson Harry Roque actually think their bickering over the continued presence of Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea was serving to protect and uphold Philippine interests? One touted unparalleled knowledge of Philippine-Chinese affairs and the other insisted on expertise in international law, but did they actually think these amounted to beans? With their principal’s constant protestations of helplessness vis-à-vis his conviction that China is “in possession” of the West Philippine Sea — dangerous statements the damage of which they, despite their professed self-importance and a billion-peso government communication program, have been unable to undo?

Not that Chinese vessels in Philippine waters were at all new. Chinese crews have merrily poached fish and giant clams, hauled off black sand, and even rammed an anchored Philippine fishing boat in the dead of night, leaving its captain and men to die in the icy waters. If there were official peeps of protest from authorities—for example, over the Chinese vessels habitually swarming Pag-asa Island, where live Philippine troops and families—these were barely heard. Such is the Philippines’ sorry state, despite an unprecedented Arbitral Award in July 2016 upholding its sovereign rights over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and tossing out China’s claim over almost the whole South China Sea.

China’s presence can no longer be ignored, and neither can Mr. Duterte’s statements. On May 12, the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea (NTF-WPS) reported that at least 287 Chinese vessels had been seen in the Philippine EEZ, indicating that China was as usual quietly up to no good while Roque was making noise about the remoteness of Julian Felipe Reef and Locsin was beating his chest over territoriality in the speaking space.

Locsin even excoriated “the idiots” in the NTF-WPS for stealing the thunder from his office’s press release of yet another diplomatic protest fired off at China. And Roque jumped in, saying that the task force was remiss in clarifying the vessels’ positions and that the claim of ownership of Julian Felipe is a mistake—and then doubling back. Imagine: Heckle and Jeckle arguing the Philippines’ case, using expertise in Americanese and skill for spin as battering ram, with damage control on their principal’s statements as the driving force.

But their words and actions are being viewed for what these are: distractions that confuse and anger the public and, as Sen. Panfilo Lacson correctly put it, comprise “mixed signals” that only serve to benefit China.

On May 14, Antonio Carpio started an online campaign calling on the President to retract his statements that: the arbitral award won is “a scrap of paper” worthy of the wastebasket; Chinese fishermen can fish in the Philippines’ EEZ; and China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea. Carpio has endured insults from Mr. Duterte—to speak nothing of a cavalier challenge to a debate from which the challenger himself retreated—with a composure reflecting his eminent tenure in the Supreme Court. In persevering to explain to Filipinos the crucial points to understand—that the President’s statements “[run] contrary to the Constitution, waive our sovereign rights under the arbitral award, and even concede to China possession of the West Philippine Sea when, in fact, China is not physically and legally in possession of [it]”—it is clear that he will see this battle through.

It is not only Carpio that has formally called on the President to retract. Alumni of San Beda, where Mr. Duterte obtained his law degree in 1972, issued on May 16 a “fraternal statement of concern” urging him to not only take back his remarks trashing the arbitral award and claiming that China is in possession of the West Philippine Sea, but also to “categorically, demonstrably, and publicly” uphold the constitutional mandate that “The State shall protect the nation’s marine wealth in its archipelagic waters, territorial sea and [EEZ], and reserve its use and enjoyment exclusively to Filipino citizens.”

To these, Roque said on Monday that there is nothing to retract, not even his principal’s dismissal of the “scrap of paper” for which other nations in Southeast Asia as well as Japan, France, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom have expressed support.

What is China’s hold on the President that he behaves in this way? Jose Cuisia Jr., former envoy to the United States, framed it thus: “[China] promised us huge investments, huge loans; what have we gotten so far? … In the meantime, how much have we lost?”

How much we have lost — in natural possessions, in national dignity—is staggering.