A sordid, spurious deal

In hindsight, the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” between former president Rodrigo Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping explains a lot about his administration’s defeatist stance over China’s contentious claims on features in the West Philippine Sea, despite a July 2016 international tribunal ruling upholding Philippine sovereignty over them.

The secret deal revealed last week by former Duterte spokesperson Harry Roque also sheds light on China’s belligerent demand—capped with military force in recent weeks—for the Philippines to tow away the BRP Sierra Madre, a rusting Navy ship deliberately grounded at Ayungin Shoal as a military outpost and a marker of the country’s sovereign rights over the area.

According to Roque, the two parties agreed to maintain the status quo in the disputed waters, with China promising to stop building new structures in the South China Sea and allowing the delivery of food supplies for Filipino troops in the warship, as long as no construction materials were brought in for the ship’s repairs. Roque’s disclosure comes shortly after another incident of Chinese coast guard vessels training water cannons at a Philippine resupply mission that injured several crew members and heavily damaged the resupply boat.

Treasonous sell-out

While Roque has clarified that the agreement did not include the removal of the dilapidated Philippine Navy ship—contrary to China’s claims—the deal still reeks of disloyalty at best, and treasonous sell-out at worse.

The former president acted beyond his authority, as the agreement was “a disguised surrender of our [exclusive economic zone] (EEZ) rights over Ayungin Shoal,” pointed out retired Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio last week. “Duterte knew that without repairs the BRP Sierra Madre would soon collapse and thus end our presence” at the shoal, Carpio added.

National Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said as much: “[S]uch an agreement, if it exists, infringes and violates our sovereignty as a nation,” he noted.

While the National Task Force on the West Philippine Sea has not seen any document from the Duterte administration that confirms the existence of this agreement, Malaya said its terms no longer have any bearing on the current administration, as Roque himself acknowledged.

‘Not legally binding’

Despite the NSC’s reassurance that this unconfirmed and unsigned agreement is “not legally binding” on the present government, it is still imperative for President Marcos to firmly and categorically renounce and repudiate it publicly for being inimical to national interest. Why should a one-sided deal from a previous administration decide current policy on a matter that clearly challenges Philippine sovereignty?

Mr. Marcos must consider as well how China itself has violated the terms of the agreement that are hugely favorable to it by continuously building structures and artificial islands on disputed waters, and barricading them with military vessels. It should therefore be asked: What gives China the moral authority to stop another country from managing its own affairs in its own EEZ, when it cannot even abide with the 2016 arbitral ruling which is part of international law?

Fearmongering

If anything, the so-called “gentleman’s agreement” finally confirmed the long suspected sordid and dangerous partnership between a foreign power and a top official of the Philippines who even shelved the arbitral ruling supposedly in return for Chinese loans and investments that did not really materialize.

Despite, or maybe because of, Roque’s fearmongering about the Philippines possibly losing Ayungin Shoal with our hardline stance against China’s importunings, Mr. Marcos must stand resolute in charting an independent foreign policy distinct and different from that of his predecessor.

To his credit, Mr. Marcos has done just that and has enlisted the support of other allies to help secure the country’s EEZ and sovereignty in the disputed waters, with what the NSC describes as “proportionate, deliberate, and reasonable response” to aggressive attacks by the Chinese militia on Filipino vessels.

Joint patrols

The President has so far allowed joint patrols and military exercises with the United States in the West Philippine Sea, and US access to four more Philippine military bases under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement.

These measures, including organizing late last month a National Maritime Council for a more unified and coordinated governance framework for the country’s maritime security, should clearly telegraph the President’s message that the Philippines will not be cowed by a bullying neighbor, nor will it be bound by a spurious and disadvantageous agreement from a previous administration. Instead, and as befits a leader with the country’s interest at heart, Mr. Marcos should forge ahead with a policy that upholds and defends Philippine sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea.