(Eagle News)–The Palace on Thursday, April 18, said there was no proof the United States brokered a deal between the Philippines and China to withdraw their respective vessels during the Scarborough Shoal standoff in 2012.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement as he blamed former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, who had made the remark, anew for the country’s loss of possession of the shoal.
“Even if there was such brokering, Mr. Del Rosario’s ordering the withdrawal of Philippine vessel or vessels without the knowledge and consent of former President [Benigno III] Aquino demonstrated his inexperience and naïveté in the art of psychological warfare,” Panelo said, calling Del Rosario’s act a “horrendous mistake.”
“We are now trying to fix his mess, and no amount of justification from him could justify his monumental blunder,” Panelo said.
Panelo also called out Del Rosario’s statements against him, describing them as “reckless.”
Del Rosario had accused Panelo of appearing to surrender “without lifting a finger to defend what is ours.”
“What is mindless is when one makes reckless statements under the guise of pretended patriotism on unverified reports of intrusion or harassment, or performs actions that could provoke an armed retaliation,” Panelo said.
He said the Duterte administration never discarded the decision of the Permanent Court of Arbitration that invalidated China’s expansive claims in the West Philippine Sea, as President Rodrigo Duterte had merely said he would bring it up at the proper time.
“Our position has been consistent in that there is no system of enforcing the arbitral ruling. The International Tribunal has no armed component to enforce its decision in the event that the losing state refuses to recognise the judgment,” he said.
