(Eagle News)–President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday, July 22, defended the giving of fishing rights to China in the Philippines exclusive economic zone in the West Philippine Sea.
According to Duterte, in the first place, what he was giving were “traditional fishing rights” which were allowed by the arbitral ruling in 2016 for as long as the provisions there are followed.
“It is in the arbitral ruling, ayaw niyo lang tignan. People had been fishing there for generations..,” Duterte said.
Duterte said the West Philippine Sea “is ours.”
“There are no ifs and buts about it,” he said.
Duterte said, however, that the Philippines has been working within legal boundaries and had to “temper” things to ensure no violence will break out.
He said the Spratleys and Panganiban Reef were, after all, in China’s possession following the “fiasco” committed under the administration of his predecessor, and under then-Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario.
He was apparently referring to the pullout of Philippine vessels in the area, which he said under international law meant the Philippines was ceding possession of the territories to China.
“Our ownership of the West Philippine Sea is internationally recognized,” he said.
