MANILA, Philippines — Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro Jr. has again clarified that there is no internal or gentleman’s agreement between the Philippines and China on the Ayungin Shoal, particularly on the fate of the BRP Sierra Madre.
“The Department of National Defense is not aware of, nor is it a party to, any internal agreement with China on Ayungin Shoal since President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. took office,” Teodoro said in a statement.
“As a matter of fact, the Department of National Defense has not had any contact with any Chinese government officials since last year,” he said.
A spokesperson at China’s embassy in Manila said on April 18 that the two countries had agreed early this year to a “new model” in managing tensions in the Ayungin Shoal, without elaborating.
“The narrative that unnamed or unidentified Chinese officials are propagating is another crude attempt to advance a falsehood,” the DND chief said.
He said spreading of falsehood is part of the Chinese propaganda effort to steer the Filipinos’ attention away from the real cause of the tensions in the West Philippine Sea, which is “China’s obstinate refusal to adhere to UNCLOS, which they are a signatory to.”
“We will never enter into any agreement that will compromise our sovereignty and sovereign rights under the UNCLOS, as affirmed by the 2016 Arbitral Ruling,” Teodoro said, referring to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
National Security Council (NSC) assistant director General Jonathan Malaya also denounced China’s floating of a new narrative on the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
“First, it was the alleged ‘promise’ which then became the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ and now the latest version, the ‘new model’ or ‘internal understanding’,” Malaya said.
“The propaganda masters are clearly working overtime in Beijing to sow discord and division in our country for one purpose alone: to push their claim that the Philippines is the one causing increased tensions in the WPS and provoking conflict because it has reneged on its promises,” he said in a separate statement.
Malaya said the so-called “new model” announced by the Chinese embassy is nothing more than a new invention, as he stressed that as the President has clearly stated, “there is no agreement whatsoever about Ayungin Shoal and that we shall continue to do all activities within the bounds of international law and we shall brook no interference in our lawful actions.”
“The Chinese embassy is reminded that any understanding without the authorization of the President has no force and effect. And therefore the Philippines never broke any agreement because there was none to begin with,” he emphasized.
“Moreover, the Philippines will never agree to any ‘internal understanding’ or ‘new model’ that can be deemed to be acquiescence or recognition of China’s control and administration over the Ayungin Shoal as China’s territory,” he said.
Malaya reiterated that as Ayungin Shoal is part of the country’s EEZ, “we cannot agree to any such understanding that violates the Philippine Constitution or international law.”
“The public, most especially the media, should take all statements about the WPS from the Chinese embassy with a grain of salt. These are the same people who said that the entire South China Sea is theirs, who militarized artificial islands, who created military bases in our EEZ, who claim that the videos of blocking, dangerous manuevers and water cannons are all fabricated by the media in cahoots with the Phl government,” he said. “It is a trap, nothing more, nothing less.”
China’s embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Teodoro’s or Malaya’s statements outside office hours.
Beijing and Manila have repeatedly clashed in recent months over the submerged reef, which is within the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone.
The Philippines had accused China of engaging in blocking maneuvers and using water cannons to stop resupply missions to the rusting Sierra Madre, where a handful of Filipino troops are stationed. The World War II-era transport ship was deliberately grounded in 1999 by the Philippine government to serve as military outpost and bolster the country’s maritime claims.
China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship commerce. Its claims overlap with those of the Philippines and four other nations.
In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said China’s claims had no legal basis, a decision Beijing rejects.